Becoming A Marine
by Michinokao
Summary: Luffy is sometimes smarter than he lets on... After Garp's constant asking whether he will be a marine or not, Luffy's had enough. So he tells his gramps he will be the best of the Marines. What he doesn't tell him is that he's simply going to name his pirate crew "Marine".
1. East Blue I

**East Blue! Part I**

* * *

 **Fooling Garp**

* * *

"So Luffy... You're gonna be a good marine just like your grandfather, yes?" Garp the Fist asks and looks at his little grandson. The brat is thirteen years old and a bit too small but that's alright. Stealth is a trait of a respectable marine, after all, and small people can sneak better. (Nobody tells him he's the exact opposite.)

Luffy's pouting. His straw hat still rests on his head and he wants to be the Pirate King. But gramps is always nagging and it's so annoying because Luffy knows if he agrees on becoming a marine, he actually gets gifts like training and not the usual "Fist of Love" for disagreeing.

Ace is setting sail in less than three months and then he doesn't even have a partner to become strong enough for the world out there. Dadan and the other bandits are his family but they aren't exactly a fit bunch of people. Luffy is sometimes reckless but he knows it's not going to work if he trains alone in the wilderness.

He has to resort to drastic measures, also known as thinking. Gives him headaches.

And, oh no, it works! There is this really dumb idea sprouting inside his mind and it will overthrow some of his plans, alter the way people perceive him and maybe it will not work out... but Luffy also doesn't want to lie to his family. Yes, gramps IS family, even though he mistreats him constantly, put him out in the jungle when he was a mere child, gave him to some random strangers who are also criminals and still expects him to become a marine and the only true birthday present from Garp was this weird marine t-shirt at age eight... why is Garp family again? Ah, okay, blood, yeah.

The fact that he can't lie to save his life also plays a role.

Alright, it's not as if he could cause some inner conflict in the Marine Headquarters by doing that. So, he looks up to his gramps who's still waiting for at least some kind of answer and asks him: "Hey, gramps, if I promise to become a good marine would you train me? I mean here, not in some stuffy base. You wouldn't even have to tell anyone, right?"

Garp looks decidedly shocked and a shimmer gleams in his eyes. "Bwahahaha! That's my grandson! Sure, come on, we'll train before you set out to a marine base. When will you do that?"

Luffy sweats a little. But he has heard that nearly all islands around Goa have a marine base so the question can be distorted to "When will you, as a pirate, go to one of these islands which are under the protection of the government?" so he says: "Shishishi, at seventeen of course! If you train me yourself, I can become the best of the Marines!"

That's true as well if you think about it. By starting a crew, he inherently is the best one in that crew... because there are no others.

Garp tears up and actually _hugs_ Luffy. Huh, that's weird. It's as if gramps actually loves him. It's also pretty awkward. Should he hug his grandpa like any other human? Is grandpa a human to begin with?

Good thing that the embrace doesn't last that long.

"Come on, brat. Let's make a fantastic marine out of you!"

* * *

 **Alvida and Coby**

* * *

Luffy still couldn't believe that grandpa would have let him become a pirate without knowing any of the stuff he'd taught him. He refuses to believe it. He refuses to believe Garp would have rather let him die as a punishment for not being a marine than to actually ensure his safety and wellbeing. Because the basic marine stuff is already so unbelievably effective if you have the strength to do it properly that Luffy had a short-lived crisis when he'd thought about all the vice-admirals and admirals he would encounter in his pirate life.

Hopefully Ace finds some crewmembers who know these tricks and some more who can teach him haki and rokushiki. Basic navigation, basic information gathering, basic cooking skills, basic camp building, basic self-defence, basic light sleeping, basic technology and even basic _knowledge_ all were things Luffy hadn't had a single clue about when he started training with Garp.

It's funny how soft his grandfather suddenly had become while teaching them basics. There is no "just hit it until it dies" in those things and Garp's actually a smart man when he doesn't act like a jackass.

There's a clench in Luffy's stomach when he realizes he's using his gramps as means to become a criminal. There's also sweat-dropping when he thinks that he could have lost his nakama or his life because Garp is too stubborn to help his own grandson who has the dream of becoming the Pirate King. An eye for an eye they say. Luffy's just glad he knows things now.

Other stuff is rather ridiculous and the marines themselves are totally not following their own set of rules. For example the clothing thing which says that every marine has to obey to strict rules concerning dressing themselves. That also includes headwear. He's never seen his gramps with a shitty marine cap or a white fedora hat with some swirly design on it... maybe they nowadays just take it for granted everybody's ignoring that rule?

Garp has retreated to the headquarters. "Make me proud, Luffy!" he'd said tearing up a bit. Would have been more genuine if he hadn't dug in his nose while doing that. So Luffy heads out without his grandpa but with the whole town at the shore, yelling him words of encouragement. They, surprisingly enough, both know and respect his dream. They just didn't feel it necessary to tell Garp as well.

Luffy beats down a sea king, navigates cunningly around a whirlpool and ends up on the beach of a small island. When he spots the grand ship... mind you, the _pink, overly feminine ship with hearts on each side,_ he goes on land approximately half a kilometre away from it so that there is no way they see him before he sees them.

Hammering sounds reach Luffy's trained ears ("basic information gathering") and he shaves to the source of it when his observation haki sends him a shape of weakness. Said shape of weakness has light pink hair, glasses perched on his chubby nose and is building an atrocious boat. Honestly, sailing with this self-made dinghy is guaranteed suicide.

"You're not gonna go off with that, are you?"

Suddenly, the younger boy starts wailing and apologizing before noticing that Luffy's not one of Alvida's men. Well, at least he's never seen such a normal looking crewmember before. So either the one in front of him with the black t-shirt, dark brown shorts (the pockets of the thing are rather well filled), black boots and straw hat is a newbie or actually someone not belonging to Alvida. Coby hopes so dearly it's the latter.

It is.

They introduce themselves to each other, talk about their job wishes ("You can't be serious, Pirate King?! Ow, why did you flick my my forehead?" "Ah, dunno, felt like it. So you wanna be a marine or what?"). Then Luffy surprises him and takes out the entire crew of Alvida plus the fat whale lady herself. When asked what he is going to now with them, Luffy tells him to help gathering unconscious pirates without a bounty and dispose them on the deserted island. Coby is so used to commands by now he doesn't even question it and instead grabs two of his former crewmates by their scruff and gathers them and the following men into a human pile.

Three guys and Alvida are left on the ship when Coby's done and Luffy has finished exchanging the sails for normal white ones he finds in some chest.

"So, Coby, I have packed my things, my own boat is here as well... sails are different, wind is well" at that Luffy holds out a finger covered with spit ("basic knowledge"), "let's go to Shells Town!" When it finally clicks in Coby's head he begins weeping and stuttering "thank you".

"Shishishi, you're weird. Of course I take you with me! We're friends now, aren't we?"

* * *

 **Axe Hand Morgan and Zoro**

* * *

"Oi, wanna learn something cool?"

With such a huge ship it is at times a little bit lame but Luffy likes it in general. Yeah, the colour and galleon's figure will definitely be replaced but those are just small inconveniences right now. All in all he is already a good Marine. It says in paragraph twelve: "Everything a pirate possesses is officially the marine's property." He feels as if he's living a single dragged out joke but that's alright.

Coby makes as questioning noise. Luffy moonwalks for the first time in front of someone other than his grandpa and Makino (she was really cool with it to his dismay; he wanted a funnier reaction, damn it!).

After profoundly claiming it isn't a devil fruit ability as he is a rubberman and not some... phoenix or something like that, the pink haired boy nods heftily because he really wants to do that too!

So, Luffy teaches him the moonwalk.

They still haven't arrived at Shells Town. Ah, fuck it. Observation Haki is a skill such a wimp like Coby would need to not be kidnapped again. So, he teaches him that as well. Coby's whole body is bruised when they finally arrive at the marine base but the boy's face is distorted in an equally insanely bright grin as Luffy's because he has somehow achieved some success at haki. Alvida and the others are still knocked out. Luffy supposes, when he made sure he hasn't really killed them, he used too much force.

Shells Town is weird. They flinch at the name of Roronoa Zoro but that's normal because Zoro sounds like a guy akin to a mythical demon and Luffy wants him on his crew for exactly that reason. They also flinch when the name Captain Morgan is uttered and that's kind of odd because he is a marine. Maybe someone actually realized his idea before him and Morgan isn't a marine but a Marine... ah, that sounds kind of stupid.

"Shishishi"

"Why are you laughing?" Coby raises his eyebrows.

"Nothing, nothing, just thought of something funny."

Coby and Luffy have Alvida and the other three guys with them and while Luffy gets those bounties, the younger of them is going with a letter to one of the office workers there. Garp's recommendation wouldn't be needed in Luffy's case but he wants to at least make up somewhat for his stunt.

Aye, Coby may not be physically as well as Luffy but he has taught the shrimp two important skills and the boy has enthusiasm.

Ten minutes later and nine million beri richer, he finds his pink haired friend even more beaten up in front of the marine base's entrance. "What happened?" Luffy's emotionless voice makes Coby flinch before he looks up with wobbling lips.

"They kicked me out before I had even finished my question. Some Captain he is, that Morgan! He held a freaking monologue about his greatness before asking what I was doing in his office. Then he whacked me with his weird ass axe hand. No wonder everyone is terrified if he's like that all the time!"

Luffy grits his teeth angrily and draws his precious hat deeper down to hide his murderous expression. "Come on, let's look for this Zoro guy and then..." there is a sharpness to his words which Coby isn't used to, "we're gonna get you into the marine."

"B-But how are you going to do that?!"

The straw hat wearing pirate balls a fist, holds it into the air and lets it blacken. " _When everything fails, the answer is violence._ Marine codex, paragraph nine, article four!"

Coby doesn't know if he should laugh or not because the apparent future Pirate King knows the marine codex better than most marines do but then he just sighs. They go on a Zoro hunt and promptly find him bound to a post. He looks like a demonic Jesus statue. Coby doesn't know what's up with this marine base. Are all marine bases like that? Surely not, they can't be...

Not minding the identity crisis his companion has, Luffy climbs on the other side of the fence which is parting him and his future first mate. Roronoa Zoro doesn't look like he has eaten anything in days and he seems thirsty as well as bloodthirsty.

Where had he put them -? Ah, there they are. Luffy's hand draws two slim energy bars out from one of his six shorts pockets, freeing one of them from the package and holds it in front of Zoro's mouth. They have yet to say a single thing to each other and Zoro isn't that trusting, so he starts to speak up: "Who are you and what are you do-" but then the energy bar is shoved into his mouth and he has to chew or else he will be deep throated by food.

When it's been fully eaten, Zoro wants to begin speaking again but there's another energy bar shoved into him. He didn't give consent to that, damn it!

"ARE YOU FINALLY DONE FEEDING ME, IDIOT?!"

The other decently muscled boy laughs out loud and tells the prisoner: "Yeah, yeah, I'm done. So, you're Zoro, aren't you? What's your thought on the Marine?"

Zoro frowns deeply. What's up with this dude? He doesn't seem stupid and he is strong. But at the same time the Straw Hat just appears, treats him like a fucking pet and asks ridiculous questions. He decides to humour the guy: "The marines are a corrupt organization full of weaklings without any will. They're just like a big pirate crew themselves and righteous as hell. Some of them aren't total assholes and I get paid decently for being a bounty hunter but that's about it. Why are you asking? You still haven't told me who you are, dumbass."

"Shishishi, I like Zoro already. Who I am, hm..." Luffy smirks an Ace-worthy smirk, "I'm a Marine. At the same time, I am a pirate."

"You're talking nonsense."

"Nah, I'm totally not. I'm the captain of the pirate crew called Marine. The name's Monkey D. Luffy. What about I free you and then you become a Marine... one of my kind of Marines, of course!" Luffy proposes, eyes gleaming.

Zoro's mouth has opened in awe. Luffy actually makes him want to be part of this shitty pirate crew just for the utter incredulous reason of pissing every marine ever off by carrying their name which is the name of a colour as well so they can't just put a patent on it. If he didn't have his dream, he might have just then and there agreed. Instead, he states: "I would but I strive to be the world's greatest swordsman so I can't just let my dreams be buried because I join some pirates."

Luffy looks blank. "As if I would try to bury your dream. I'm gonna be Pirate King so whoever's on my crew has to be the best anyways. Ne, Zoroooo, come oooon!"

"Alright but if you ever try to betray me, I will cut your head off." Zoro states simply.

"Shishishi! Sure. Come, we get your sword and then we'll burn half of the base down!"

The swordsman is alright with that. He has an open bill with Captain Morgan's bastard son so he doesn't mind destroying the base but... "Why only half of it?"

His new captain points to a boy who is currently casually _standing in the air._ "Coby there wants to join the other half we're not fucking up." And that's apparently a good enough reason. His new captain is a moron. He may or may not want a refund.

Luffy's finger points at the ropes and pierces them clear. But he puts in so much force the wooden cross just kind of falls apart as well. A little bit too used to the unnatural state, Zoro's body nearly tumbles down but his captain catches him. Luffy doesn't let go either, his arm stretches and tightly clasps the swordsman's upper body.

"The fuck are you doing? How's that even possible?" Zoro whispers shocked.

Grinning, the lunatic claims: "I'm a rubberman! And we can't really go in there or we will be chased and I would have to destroy the whole building. So we're going from top to the bottom."

Zoro wonders if there are more people like Luffy around who are just throwing out stuff like "Oh, by the way, I'm made of rubber" as if it's totally not something special at all. He accepts his fate and doesn't mind the handling as the Straw Hat is quite considerate and his embrace feels only like a too tight haramaki. When they're suddenly on the roof of the large building and see some workers completing an Axe Hand Morgan statue with the man himself supervising, it's a shitty coincidence.

"Who the hell are you, punks? Roronoa, is that you?!" Morgan spits out angrily.

"So you're Morgan? You're the one who hurt Coby?" Luffy's eyes become shadowed and Zoro feels overwhelmed with the killing intent rolling off of his captain's body. He hadn't thought that silly smiling boy is capable of hating somebody. Clearly, he's been wrong about that.

"Yes, I am the mighty Captain Mor-"

BOOM! The body of Morgan crashes into the statue, light grey pulverized dust is forming in a huge cloud as the Captain of the marine base just lies there, pathetically so. His axe is broken and splinters of it are seen all over the place but that's not the worst. There is a gaping wound in his axe arm as well as in his chest, scraping his lungs.

Zoro hadn't seen a thing. But suddenly Luffy had been gone and the marine captain was lying motionless. And now Luffy is back in the place he was before... in the exact same place with Zoro still in his arm. Somebody else might have not even felt him go away in the first place.

The green haired man stares up at him and asks himself if Luffy's truly human. There isn't any clear answer.

"Who's the second-in-command here?" Luffy grins. Some people shove a man to the front to face this Straw Hat devil. His name is Ripper and he is horrified. Zoro would be too if he were in his position. Now, he's just glad this boy isn't bothered at Zoro calling him an idiot.

"W-What did you do to my father?! YOU MONSTER, HEY, LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Helmeppo cries in despair. His father, the almighty Morgan, is not moving a centimetre.

"Hey, Rip-guy, could you maybe bring Zoro's sword? He needs it."

Ripper blinks. Then nods and speeds away.

"That's taken care of, so..." Luffy turns around, lets Zoro go and slowly starts approaching Helmeppo. He comes closer... Helmeppo looks slightly uncomfortable... Luffy is getting nearer... Morgan's son is pretty sure he has just wet himself, glancing down he notes, indeed, he has... Straw Hat is nearly in front of him... Helmeppo doesn't want to die but his body is frozen... Luffy flicks his finger on the other's forehead.

"Boo"

Helmeppo shrieks like a virgin maiden assaulted by a dragon (he is, sort of, only it's Dragon's son and not Dragon himself), lands on his ass and directly in the wetness he has created.

Zoro chuckles darkly and Luffy "shishishi"s . None of the other men have dared approaching either Luffy or Zoro so they just watch the spectacle unfold. In another world, they may have celebrated seeing that the terror of Morgan's regime has been utterly annihilated but the shock is too scarring.

The second-in-command reappears with three swords. Those are all Zoro's so he takes them gladly, thanks the befuddled marine and fastens them to his hips again. Feels good not being without any weapons.

"Helmeppo, dearest..." Zoro's patented bloodthirsty canine features make themselves home on his face, "What did you say about Rika?"

"I-I will not to anything to her... please... M-Mr R-Rononoa... dontkillmepleaseiwillneverdoanythinginmylifeagainsoplease-"

A hand on his mouth stops Helmeppo from speaking. It's Ripper's. "Silence. Is that all you are here for?" he asks those two infiltrators, all traces of fear have left his voice.

"Nope. COBY COME HERE. WE'RE UP HERE!" Luffy uses both of his hands to enhance his voice and the floating pink-haired boy moonwalks to his friend. On his forehead is an x-shaped injury bleeding away. "Coby, Ripper. Ripper, Coby. Coby wants to be a marine and my grandfather wants ME to be one as well. I am already a Marine so I was here to ask Captain Morgan to take him instead. Well, aaaanyways... Wanna take him? He can moonwalk AND has Observation Haki."

Ripper doesn't know what to say so he asks the first thing that comes to his mind: "Your grandfather?"

Luffy nods, straw hat bouncing up and down happily. "Yeah, you should know him – vice admiral Monkey D. Garp. Do you still have the letter, Coby?"

"GARP IS YOUR GRANDFATHER?!" comes from all sides.

"Well, yes. I'm Monkey D. Luffy." the captain of the Marine Pirates introduces himself sweetly. Coby gives Ripper the letter which the man reads fast and then nods. "Good, now men, help cadet Coby. Good job on your part... which rank do you have?" he looks at Luffy.

"Shishishi, I'm a captain."

"Well, good job then, Captain Luffy!" They give Luffy and even Zoro (he hasn't actually done anything but alright) salutes and Coby hugs his friend thankfully before both swordsman and pirate captain leave them.

"You played them well. Captain Luffy... tche." Zoro grins at his companion when they are out of the marines' hearing range.

Straw Hat gasps dramatically. Some might have actually fallen for that as he looks quite naive by default but Zoro knows how wrong it is to underestimate Luffy. "I would never! Zooorooo, why do you say that? I actually AM a Marine and a captain... perhaps they are all just misunderstanding me." Both of them laugh. It's ridiculous, really.

Just as ridiculous as Luffy's ship. "The fuck is that?" Shudders run down the swordsman's spine as he looks at hearts and pink. Luffy is weird and he does unpredictable things... also he shoves things into other men without consent. Maybe Zoro should flee. Yes, sounds like a good idea. Only problem is that he would be captured within a yoctosecond.

As if sensing his discomfort, the captain "tsk"s. "Do you really think I wanna keep it like that? Its paintjob is disgusting and the galleon's figure as well. Next city, we're gonna see if it can be sanded. By the way, even if I wanted something with you, I wouldn't do it like that. I would seduce you slowly. You seem like a guy who wants a deep connection so I would give you little presents, manly presents though, and you wouldn't be able to not accept them as they could be meant platonic as well. Then I would gradually start watching your trainings and give you compliments. You'd feel obligated to watch my trainings as well. Then you would also start giving me compliments. It's a small line, Zoro, between friendship and relationship."

Zoro doesn't know whether he likes the fact that his captain could possibly seduce him if he wanted to do so. At least Luffy would be a gentleman about it.

* * *

 **Buggy**

* * *

"Zorooo, why is this thing so laaaameee?"

"That's normal speed, dumbass."

"Zorooo, I wanna have meeeeat..."

A vein begins popping on the swordsman's forehead. Maybe they would have been better off going with a little boat rather than with this monstrosity of a ship but Zoro knows that it will be a short time until the crew starts expanding. They need a navigator, first and foremost, to ensure they're on the right course - later on, a cook, a doctor and someone smart to counter Luffy's... extravagance. His captain isn't dumb but he is kind of childish at times and doesn't like to think because it gives him headaches.

Or so he says. Zoro isn't entirely convinced.

After a couple of hours have gone by, the ship finally heads for the port of a small island. Hopefully, they would find a shipwright or at least someone experienced with woodworks. The pink is starting to annoy not only the easily unnerved first mate but also Luffy who hates this colour so much he has to restrain himself physically from punching the ship.

When they go on land, the first thing that happens is a girl running into Luffy. Three dangerous looking guys are on her toes.

"There you are, boss! I'm just gonna go now, okay? Thanks, bye!."

Five seconds later, the three clown-like guys lay in a heap of blood and groans. Zoro stretches a bit. It's been quite some time since he's had the pleasure of letting one of his blades roam freely. The girl introduces herself as Nami.

"I'm Luffy and that's Zoro. We're the Marine."

The orange haired girl lifts an eyebrow and asks unbelieving: "You guys are marines?"

Luffy grins and Zoro smirks. "No", the captain states, "We're the Marine Pirates!"

"Pirates?!" A disgusted expression flares over her face. If there is one thing she hates more than anything else it is piracy. Although this man with three swords has saved her, she can't help but feel wary about him and his companion as soon as she knows their occupation.

"Yep but we're not the "kill every innocent around" - type of guys. More like the "my idiot captain wants to be the Pirate King and I want to be the best swordsman" – type, you know?" Zoro calmly provides after a pregnant silence with Luffy crossing his arms and tilting his head, making the infamous straw hat go askew.

Nami sighs in defeat. They don't seem like they would attack her. She'd never lose attentiveness around them but she could at least prepare them something to eat. The captain's grumbling stomach tells her he hasn't eaten in quite a while (well, it's only been around five hours but the need for meat has resurfaced).

"Zorooo, I wanna have meeeeat. Nami, is there any meeeeat around?" Luffy pouts innocently.

The navigator sweat drops.

In the mass of collapsed houses they find an intact one. Luffy digs out an old red coat in a treasure chest and decides to take it with him. Mentally, he checks his list of "pirate things to do" at the point "steal from civilians".

Nami is shit at cooking. But she can look at the meat until it seems done and flip it experimentally. Luckily, Zoro and Luffy both have iron stomachs.

"Tell me – Is it true? Is your crew really called "Marine"?" the orangette asks genuinely intrigued, resting her head on both of her palms. It's been on her mind ever since their introduction.

Luffy, now with captain coat and all, stops gobbling down the food as he answers: "Yeah, but only until I'm a bit known. Then, we're gonna sort of betray the marines by naming our crew something else. Oi, Zoro, what name do ya suggest afterwards?"

The swordsman snorts in amusement. "How about the "Not-Marine"?"

"Norine?"

"Heh, we could be shitty and call us just "Nothing"."

Luffy laughs when a picture pops up in his mind of a high up marine calling out: "Be careful! Nothing is in front of us!" Would definitely be just as amusing as "Marine".

The navigator clears up her throat. "You're weird. Both of you. But well... I have a business proposal for you. I need a little bit of money and you need a navigator... If I am guessing correctly, you aren't really well on that, are you?" Luffy just nods in agreement, "We could work together until I have my required sum." She lids her eyes in a sexy manner but neither Zoro nor Luffy are influenced even in the slightest.

Nonetheless, the captain hits his fist on the palm of his other hand and yells: "Yosh! How much do you need?"

Smiling, Nami states: "100 million beri!"

"A HUNDRED MILLION?!" the swordsman shouts, teeth seemingly sharpened in a comical way, while Luffy starts drooling. "Hundred million... so much meat..."

"Stop dreaming about food! That's serious. What the hell you need that much for?!" Zoro asks, raising an eyebrow.

Nami huffs in annoyance: "None of your concerns. It's just that – money for me, navigation for you... and maybe... just maaaybee... I need help in stealing from Buggy the Clown whose base is here."

Luffy's thinking expression makes itself known. Honestly, now that Zoro actually sees his captain doing sheer acrobatics with his face he doesn't question how thinking can hurt.  
After a whole minute stretching cheeks, eyelids and generally grimacing so hard Nami has to suppress a wince, it fades into complete neutrality when he states: "I don't know who Buggy the Clown is!"

One might have seen huge sweat drops forming on Nami's and Zoro's heads. Nami sighs but doesn't bother hitting the boy. "Buggy the Clown" she states, "Is worth fifteen million beri. He's one of the older generations, rumoured to have been around when Gold Roger was still alive!"

Luffy begins digging in his nose (somewhere, a certain vice-admiral is doing the same... family bonding!). "Fifteen million after so much time? What a lame ass. Probably can't even fight and has to rely on his men. Shishishi, when I think about the pirates in the New World... they would beat this clown with a single broken finger!"

The other two decide not to comment on that. They agree, though, to have this sort of contract between them.  
Soon, they leave the house alone and the owner of it stripped of one of his finest pieces of clothing and thousands of beri worth of meat. Anyways, he will never notice it because in the exact same moment Luffy ushers them out of the door, a cannon ball hits through dozens of homes, and also the one they have been in just a second ago, leaving a path of destruction behind.

"Well, good that we weren't hit by that, right?" Zoro mumbles shook.

His captain's eyes are shadowed by his hat when he says: "Told you it's a nice time to leave. Saw it coming. We're gonna kick Buggy's ass – I hate it when people think they stand above others."

"Aye" the swordsman answers.

Nami stares in wonder at them. This boy... no, this man... he is insane. While Zoro hasn't caught the implication, Nami did. She suspects Luffy knew that this would happen but she doesn't have a clue on the "how" aspect. Maybe the captain with the straw hat would be strong enough to beat even Arl... no! She nearly has the sum she needs. She can't trust these pirates. There is no guarantee they would even want to help her. So she swallows down the impulse to immediately tell Luffy everything and silently walks at his and Zoro's side until they reach a circus tent.

Inside, they hear a cheery bunch of people partying away. This has to be their headquarters, Luffy thinks.  
He beckons Zoro and Nami to wait outside for a moment and then strides in confidently after adjusting his hat.

A mass of pirates are drinking to the music made by some weird ancient looking guys. One of them plays a guitar, one is proficient on his accordion and two sing in rough voices a song about the "flashiest pirate captain of them all". Luffy rolls his eyes. How predictable! This reminds him of Captain Morgan. It also vaguely resembles the parties Shanks liked to participate in and for a second he's thrown back to his home town of Foosha Village.

Perhaps they're an okay bunch?

There's a clown sitting on a goddamn throne and he just stabbed one of the men next to him because he misunderstood the poor bugger. Not okay, totally not okay. A couple of subordinates wince when the body hits the floor but all in all people resume fooling around as if one of their own hasn't just fucking _died._

"So you are Buggy the Clown, huh?" Luffy demands and all of a sudden, everything comes to a halt. It's not because he shouts it that they are shocked but because of the strength in his voice.

Music stops, men regard him with pure distrust. Only Buggy, the red nosed captain of this crew which not only resembles clowns in the clothes they wear but also in their shitty attitude, stays put and spares him a glance full of boredom.

"And who the hell are you?" the clown asks, clearly not amused.

Luffy's mouth corners go up as he says: "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, future Pirate King."

He's met with roaring mockery and insults thrown at his head. Internally sighing, he lets himself be dragged to Buggy's throne where the clown is flashily moving around his whole body erratically, mimicking laughing motions. What a disturbing sight indeed.

Buggy stops, wipes away a non-existent tear from the corner of his eye and inspects the young man standing in front of him so closely that his big red nose nearly squashes against Luffy's.

"I don't like you, Monkey D. Luffy. You remind me of that annoying redhead Shanks."

"Do I? Well, I guess it's the hat. It was his after all." Luffy says neutrally.

The blue haired captain stills and grimaces, apparently having a flashback. "That Shanks!" he spits out with hate colouring his voice, "He gave it to you?! No wonder you unnerve me, Straw Hat! Men, flashily get rid of this eyesore!"

"Gum gum hawk!" Before any of Buggy's men can attack Luffy he pierces his hardened fingertips into Buggy's chest causing the clown to cough blood and fall unconscious. "Just as I thought" Luffy states coldly, "Someone who rests on reputation. Mah..." he pouts when all of Buggy's other crewmembers take a step back as his eyes roam around, "...and here I wanted to have at least a bit of a fight..."

"What did you do to Captain Buggy?! I'll kill you!"

Luffy steps back just in time for a sword to rush past him. He puts his hand on his straw hat to keep it from being blown away and sends them all to their knees. There isn't anyone who is interesting. Their demeanour may be all big and flashy but the tiniest blast of Conqueror's Haki puts them out. What a waste, truly. Next time, he'll let his nakama deal with such overconfident pirate crap.

"Nami! You can plunder them all you want, I'll kick Buggy to the moon!" the captain of the Marines grabs the clown and walks out of the tent, motioning his temporary navigator to roam free. Then, he, truthfully to his statement, grins as he kicks the clown so far away that he vanishes on the firmament.

Beri symbols plop up in Nami's eyes as she happily trots over masses of knocked out clowns. Grandline map, money and food are all stolen in a single heartbeat. Zoro raises his eyebrows when the orangette resurfaces after such a short span of time with three huge sacks of goods dragging behind her.

"Insane..." Zoro mumbles under his breath, "They're all insane..."

After some villagers appear and the mayor thanks them (again, Zoro hasn't done anything besides standing in front of a freaking tent!) Luffy pouts.  
"What's up with you?" Nami asks her temporary captain. Luffy groans and looks exasperatedly at his first mate who catches the notion and begins sighing.

Nami frowns and demands: "Honestly, what's up with... with... WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!"

Luffy has wanted to take the clowns' ship, really. After all, everything would be better than Alvida's vessel of pink death. But apparently some of Buggy's crew have managed to get away unharmed and have taken their ship with them. Now, obviously, they have to take the pink atrocity as there are nothing else that's halfway suitable.

"Eh" the captain of the Marine begins weakly, "That's... our ship?"

Nami finds comfort in Zoro patting her shoulder. "I know" the swordsman says, "I know"


	2. East Blue II

**East Blue! Part II**

* * *

 **Kuro and Usopp**

* * *

They are a lot faster now that they have an adept navigator who knows how to steer the ship just right. On the deck of the dubbed "Eyesore Wreckage" we find two men who are sitting in front of each other. The one with a straw hat perched on his black haired head explains a great power known as Haki.

"It's a mystery power!" he says completely serious. Zoro snorts and waits for another sentence or two from his captain... and he waits... and he waits... and he waits... "You're gonna tell me how it works, right? You're not just gonna leave it at that!?"

Luffy makes his freakish thinking face again while he strokes one of the padded shoulders of his new captain's coat and then looks at his friend. "Well, Coby understood how to do it after that."

The swordsman raises an eyebrow. "Coby?" he asks, "That kid's been almost as weird as you. I mean with the way he's mistaken _this_ as a normal ship... Also, you said picking up Haki takes a while. Weren't you sailing with him for, like, two days at most?!"

"Huh, you're right. Now that you state the facts it's odd too that he was able to moonwalk... ah, meh, maybe he just developed some badass leg muscle while working as a chore boy for the fat whale lady!" Luffy nods to himself and clearly thinks the issue at hand is sorted out.

"What the hell?!" Zoro shouts comically, "That's absolutely no sound reasoning!"

POW!

The Marine's first mate cradles a forming goose egg on his moss head. He glares daggers at Nami who just raises her eyebrows daringly. She would have hit her new captain as well but Luffy is not only scary but also used to dodging. The navigator had tried it yesterday and spent nearly a whole hour attempting to hit a boy that wasn't even moving from his spot on the ugly ass figurehead.

"Why do you even know those techniques? They are certainly not common knowledge as far as I know." Nami asks.

Luffy remembers gramps ordering him to never ever in his entire life tell anyone outside of the marine that he taught his grandson those skills. So, naturally, the teen answers: "My gramps taught me. He also said to never tell anyone but the Marine he did."

Nami stares at him for a moment before she turns to Zoro. "...He has so much fun doing that, doesn't he?"

The swordsman snorts. "The Marine thing? Yeah." and then he begins his training for the moonwalk. At least that Luffy had been able to break apart into small pieces of actual instruction. How tapping the ground with one's foot ten times in a second is possible he doesn't know but it has to be. Or else he's going insane and imagines rubber idiots and _weak ass children_ walking in the air.

Nami sighs and eventually just resumes steering the ship to their next destination, the Gecko Islands. Even though there's only one village on them they all hope for a shipwright to finally get rid of the bright pink wherever one looks.

With Zoro completely focused on his training, Luffy making himself comfortable on the galleon's figurehead and Nami doing her best to navigate the Eyesore Wreckage safely, a laid-back atmosphere evolves. The orange haired young woman wonders how those two idiots could create an air she would describe as friendly. It's easy falling into their pace and momentarily she doesn't think about her village. She doesn't see Arlong's ugly mug flashing behind her eyes. A small smile graces her lips until she reminds herself that this is just a part of her mission.

Footsteps are stepping up to her side. Surprisingly, Luffy comes to stand next to her. Nami's hands rest on the steering wheel as he without a word gazes at the sea. Then Luffy's gentle voice breaks the stillness: "We're friends, nakama, you know that, right? It doesn't matter what you've done so far. From the moment you accepted me into your life, you sealed the deal. I... Maybe I'm not that smart but if there's anything I can do for you, tell me, okay?" He smiles and Nami notices how the corners of his eyes don't crinkle this time.

Luffy is serious.

She swallows and grips the wheel tighter. Her knuckles are white. "I" she begins, tries to make it sound as if there isn't a Damocles Sword above her head ready to strike. A crack in her voice betrays her. Nami continues anyways: "I'm alright. Nothing's up. Stop being stupid, captain!"

She's glad for the veil of orange that hides the emptiness in her eyes. _"Nojiko, Gen-san, Bell-mère... soon... soon I'll have the money. And then... then I won't have to lie to him."_ she thinks determined. A small piece of the hollowness doesn't disappear. Nami's glad for the distraction of the Gecko Islands. On the horizon they are getting bigger and bigger.

"Land!" she yells. Behind her, the noise of Zoro's spontaneous work-out stops.

They dock at the shore of the island about half an hour later. Luffy sends the orange haired woman a last worried look before he cheerfully pulls up a finger. He points towards a bush and after his two nakama take his left and right he shouts: "Hands up! I'm armed!"

Nami puts her hands on her hips and frowns. What's up with her temporary captain? To Zoro's and her amazement, the bush begins to retreat. Luffy makes a shooting motion and whispers: "Peng!"

The bush starts sweating heavily when a hole the size of a fingertip pierces through it. Slowly, a pair of arms is lifted. They shake heavily.

"Now that we all know there's something in the bushes, you can come out. All four of you!"

Three children suddenly cry and run away but the initial man in the bush on top of the hill stands up. He can't be older than Luffy. However, instead of firm muscles covering his frame the boy is as skinny as can be and on top of that, his nose is thrice as long as a normal one. Nami can't help but feel sorry for the stranger. Zoro and Luffy are both handsome and pretty buff. In comparison to them the boy wearing brown overalls seems as harmless as a puppy whose eyes are still glued together.

"S-Surrender! I-I'm the great captain Usopp and I have eight thousand men!" the boy hastily stutters with his knees shivering, sweat running down his face and slingshot in his hands. Zoro grins feral and grumbles in the lowest most dangerous sounding voice he can muster: "Eight thousand? Finally a challenge!"

He doesn't like the expression on the green haired swordsman's face. Instead of even considering whether to retreat or not with the threat of eight thousand men hanging in the air, he just accepts it and desires a battle.

The stranger, Usopp, shuffles away slooooowly. These guys are the real deal. They all look menacing as hell and he is all by himself without support from his friends. Also, he only has a slingshot. As if that could stop someone who shoots from the distance with his freaking _finger_.

What on Earth should he do?!

"You can stop lying now!" the cheerful straw hat wearer calls out and Usopp slumps down in shock. Shit, not even his lies are any help! His breath speeds up rapidly. He's never had to deal with people like these. The most dangerous man to ever step on this island was his own father and Usopp hadn't seen him in a long time.

"We don't wanna do anything bad! I'm hungry. Is there a place where we can get some me-" Straw Hat tries to ask but is swatted on the head by the orange haired woman who now looks in shock at her own hand. Usopp muses it's because she is surprised by her violence.

In reality it's because Nami hadn't expected to land the hit. Luffy grins at her. "Wow" she thinks sweat-dropping, "doesn't really feel satisfying when you know he's let you hit him deliberately."

"We need someone to sand our ship." Zoro chimes in neutrally. There is some disappointment lingering in his voice but other than that, the aggressiveness has completely vanished from his face. Usopp is glad for that. After a couple of seconds in which he considers whether he knows someone experienced with ships, he stutters: "W-Well, I d-don't know about the ship thing b-but I could at least show you a restaurant, right?"

The swordsman stares at him.

"R-Right?" Usopp tries again.

Zoro still stares at the shivering boy.

"R-R-Right? Y-You aren't going to k-kill me, M-M-Mr Swordsman, right?!" the long-nosed teen cries out desperately. He is tearing up a bit by now.

"Oh, you were talking to me? Sorry, I thought you meant Luffy here. He's the captain." Zoro says shrugging and not really apologetic.

Usopp comically falls over before he all of a sudden regains his composure and stands up from the ground he's been having his near panic attack on. His eyes wander towards the so-called Luffy.  
"Sure, come on guys! Shishishi, let's have dinner." the boy who can't be much older than Usopp decides. The sharpshooter lets out a ragged breath. Good. Nice. They aren't going to decapitate him... not yet anyways.

They surely look like an odd bunch as they leisurely walk to the restaurant Usopp has recommended. The sniper finds out the three others aren't as dangerous as he has thought them to be and they actually talk a bit about some things. Luckily, Luffy, Zoro and Nami decide to overlook Usopp's still shuddering knees and clattering teeth. Hey, give him a break! It's not his fault he's never faced really strong people before!

"You're called Usopp, right?" Luffy asks when they've found a nice table at the restaurant. Usopp merely nods, not knowing why the other boy is interested in that all of a sudden.

"Is your father Yasopp by any chance?"

The long-nosed teen's eyes widen as he realizes the question asked. Hastily he croaks: "Ye-Yeah! Yeah, that's my dad. Do you know him?"

Nami looks astonished at her captain. He doesn't really strike her as somebody who remembers little details like a random guy's son's name. Then again, Luffy has surprised her countless times while she has been the Marine's (ugh, the crew's name's kinda fun but a bit childish in her modest opinion) navigator.

Luffy laughs in delight. "Sure I know him! He's one of the best sharpshooters ever. Has a huge bounty and is on Yonko Shanks' crew –"

"WHAT?!" two unbelieving voices shriek. Usopp and Nami both can't really believe it. The former's reason for that is his underlying doubt in his dad's pirate life and the latter's imagination fails her when she tries to visualize the skinny boy's relative as a strong fighter who's probably known worldwide.

"U-huh! I met Shanks when I was seven. He gave me my hat and I promised him to become the Pirate King!" Luffy exclaims as he tips the brim of his straw hat in nostalgia.  
The orange haired woman in the meantime blanches considerably. "You... You promised a YONKO you'll become Pirate King?! A YONKO?!" she screeches in horror.

"Yeah... ?" the Marine's captain tilts his head in confusion at Nami's grimace.

Zoro, who had been drinking fine sake, lowers his mug and blinks questioningly.

"Y... You two don't have any clue what that means, do you?" the woman asks weakly. She buries her face in her hands and sighs in defeat. Whatever compliment about sensitivity she had silently donned Luffy she withdraws right now.

The boy with the scar under his eye huffs. "Ne, Nami – Explain!"

Usopp cowers in fear as the orangette angrily hits the table as she jumps up. Her face shows annoyance and at the same time a tiny amount of amusement. This crew's influence is bad for her rationalism, obviously.

"Yonko are the ones who have the biggest chance of being King. I've heard stories about them... they are the most gruesome pirates there are. They have to be ridiculously strong in order for them to keep their title. And you... you marched up to one of them and told him you, an underage boy, will beat him... how he hasn't killed you yet for your cheek is beyond me, honestly."

"Oh!" Luffy says in comprehension, "So Shanks and I have to fight each other in the end? Cooool!"

"THAT'S NOT COOL AT ALL!" Nami yells while Usopp shouts: "ARE YOU SUICIDAL?!"

Luffy whines when the woman starts shaking him back and forth violently. He lays his hand on hers in consolation. After some deep breaths she lets go of the red coat. "Shishishi, don't be mad! I mean, yes, Shanks and I will fight one day but he likes me. He wouldn't have given me his precious hat if he didn't! ...Huh, when I think about it..." Luffy makes a painful expression, aka thinking face, "We're definitely going to run into some vice admirals and later on perhaps even into an admiral. I wouldn't worry about Shanks – The vice admirals are going to be tricky!"

Zoro grins. "Vice admirals and admirals? Sounds great to me." he states and gulps down another large gulp of his alcoholic beverage.

"They're insane. How do you live with them?" Usopp whispers animatedly in Nami's direction. The navigator just shakes her head. "I don't know" she answers pathetically, "I really don't know."

Nami only calms down after Luffy promises her three fourths of the legendary treasure One Piece. Usopp and Luffy quickly find themselves drawn into heated discussions about piracy and Yasopp whereas a certain green haired swordsman is happy doing nothing but participating in a drinking contest against himself.

Somewhere, the conversation drifts off to ships once more.

"And you really don't know anyone who can help us with that? I mean you've seen our... well, I wouldn't call it a ship to be honest." Nami demands pleadingly.

Luffy speaks up: "I wouldn't mind an entirely new ship. If there isn't a shipwright can you tell us if there's someone with a ship who wouldn't mind giving it to us?"

The sniper unexpectedly grows still. He says: "There is a ship but... impossible... oh, look how late it is. I have to go!" and hurries out of the establishment, leaving behind three befuddled pirates. They look at one another.  
Their captain shrugs merely but nevertheless muses: "Well, that was odd."

"Why did he run away? Ah, never mind." Zoro dead-pans as yet another bottle of booze is put in front of him by a friendly waitress. As a quirky background fact: This restaurant has never had the rapid need to stock up on liqueur as the townspeople rarely go here to drink. That's why, after this day, they were completely out of alcohol for quite a while due to Roronoa Zoro's endless alcohol pit of doom – stomach, as some would call it.

Luffy asks for another steak and Nami? Nami sips at a bottle of cola and sometimes her expression would darken before her eyes become beri symbols as she reminds herself of the large amount of gold and jewellery waiting for her somewhere on the Grandline.

The peaceful atmosphere is abruptly broken by three disgruntled children.

"Where's our captain?"

Luffy burps and all hell breaks loose.

"AHHH! DID YOU EAT HIM?!" and "WHAT DID YOU DO WITH OUR CAPTAIN USOPP?!" as well as "THEY'RE WITCHES! HELP, THEY ARE WITCHES!" rings through the restaurant.

Obviously, Zoro doesn't lift the kids' panic by grinning devilishly while rubbing his belly. He states: "Your captain... was delicious!"

PONK. PONK. PONK.

Piiman, Ninjin and Tamanegi hold the newly evolving goose bumps on their heads.

"A-And Captain Usopp really hasn't been eaten?" a brave one asks the orange haired demon.

"He's run off after we mentioned we needed a ship." Zoro says, actually being helpful for once.  
The three brats look at each other quietly before one of them, the lavender haired one, explains: "Captain Usopp probably went to the big mansion on the hill to tell lies to the girl living there."

Nami murmurs to herself: "No wonder he fit right into our group. He's a maniac as well."

Tamanegi clears his throat and stutters: "H-He doesn't do that because he's crazy. The girl is an heiress a-and she's been kind of sick and depressed ever since her parents died. S-So C-Captain invents stories for her to make her smile and laugh."

They're all silent after that. Nami seems a bit uneasy because of her accusation while Zoro has gone back to being the epitome of an alcoholic. The captain of the Marines though is for once pretty serious. He doesn't think about anything, that his crewmates know as there is a lack of his disgusting grimaces, but he judges the situation. Then Luffy suddenly nods. "Gramps taught me about this." he says, "He told me this is called a sick game. In this case, it's a sick dating game."

...

"Who the fuck is your grandfather?!" the navigator cries with sharp teeth. Zoro chokes on his last sip of beverage. No wonder Luffy has an aggressive definition of relationships (as demonstrated in the way he had convinced the swordsman he could court him without anyone noticing). A vice admiral would be pretty dominant in such matters.

"Monkey D. Garp. He's a vice admiral." Luffy calmly states.

"W-What? An actual marine is your... is it really just me who doesn't understand anything he does?" Nami asks, pointing at her temporary captain.

Zoro's coughing fit ceases. He answers: "I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but even I know that his sense is complete bullshit." One could hear a nearly whispered: "Why the fuck am I travelling with them?" if listened closely after Zoro's confession.

"Anyways! This princess or whatever she is can maybe help us with our ship problems. Let's go there!" the pirate captain suggests.

"How about let's not?" Nami tries.

Luffy grins widely. "Shishishi. Captain's orders!"

The orange haired woman could be spotted with a slight pout while the three of them walk up the hill after bidding their goodbyes to the kids, who said they'd have to be at home for lunch.  
Unlike his brutal grandpa would, Luffy doesn't throw his friends in the air but gently grabs his two nakama around the abdomen and moonwalks over the iron gate and bush fence.

Of course the fact that it's gently doesn't hinder them from protesting.

"- And then I, the Great Captain Usopp, slaughtered bravely these giant fish that were attacking the old la-ha-haaaaWHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" the sniper shouts when he notices Kaya's startled face directed at Luffy, Nami and Zoro who are standing literally above people's heads.

"Ah, hello!" Luffy greets charmingly and tilts his hat at Kaya who blushes a bit, "You must be the extremely beautiful heiress of this mansion here! I'm a little uncomfortable asking you this as we have only just met but do you have access to either a competent shipwright and/or a ship which we could use?"

Nami, Zoro and Usopp fall over. The former of them adorns the face of a woman that has been mentally scarred for the rest of her life and the other two are gaping in disbelief. However, this isn't Luffy outing himself as a highly intelligent young gentleman... this they realize when they see how shaky and concentrated the Marine captain looks. Basic manners is categorized under basic knowledge and, thus, obviously not Luffy's strong suit.

Here could be inserted a flashback of Garp and his grandson training manners but Luffy has long since suppressed the image of a bulky marine vice admiral clad as a young lady... And he intends on leaving it that way.

"Ah, I may help you with that. Might I request your name before making you acquainted with my butler Merry who is proficient at this kind of work, Mister?" Kaya asks kindly.

"Oh, excuse me!" Luffy exclaims, "How rude of me. I'm Marine captain Monkey D. Luffy and these are my two crewmembers – Roronoa Zoro, swordsman and first mate and Nami, the best navigator out there."

Nami feels honoured and she can't help it, truly, because her captain's eyes glitter with pride and trust. On the one hand, it should be only honour she feels but on the other hand, the threat of her real captain still looms over her. She bites her bottom lip. Zoro analyzes her but he lets the sudden change of mood slip.

Kaya's unaware of the inner trouble the other woman is having in this moment. She merely smiles, saying: "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Captain Monkey, Miss Nami and Mister Roronoa. As you already know I'm Kaya. I will let you in. Wait here just a moment!" She disappears behind heavy blue curtains. As soon as the frail girl is gone Luffy sinks to the ground heavily breathing.

Usopp is the first one to catch up with the situation. He pats Luffy's back. "There, there" he croaks out awkwardly, "You did well... I think. I haven't ever seen Kaya so business-like."

When the door opens they have all kind of regained their composures and follow the heiress into the huge mansion. Its interior reminds Luffy of Garp's praises of the architecture of Mariejois. Somehow there had been always a venomous undertone as the conversation went from the building structures to the city's inhabitants which Luffy still can't grasp as his gramps is supposed to adore them. Celebrity or Cereal Dragons or whatever they are called.

Every wall is painted in a bright white whereas blue tones serve as nice accents. The only thing which completely exerts the colour scheme is a sour man in black clothing who weirdly adjusts his glasses.  
"Miss Kaya, you shouldn't invite those lowlifes into the mansion." he snidely says.

"Klahadore! How dare you? This is marine captain Monkey D. Luffy and his crew who are friends with Usopp!" Kaya intervenes.

The butler doesn't shut up. He comments: "Usopp the notorious liar? I heard a lot of you and your good for nothing father. You probably lied about those... kids... being Marines, didn't you?"

At first Usopp wants to punch this arrogant asshole but then he remembers who his dad is. His father wouldn't approve of him giving into some shitty shade like that. So he answers: "Maybe I lie quite a bit but I don't have to do that when it comes to my father. There are enough people who know who Yasopp of the Red Hair Pirates is, right?"

Klahadore's eyes widen comically. Then he clears his throat. "While that is... undeniable, these children surely aren't marines."

The straw hat wearing teen introduces them: "Actually, we are the Marines. I'm Captain Monkey D. Luffy and these are my crewmembers."

"Monkey D.? As in Monkey D. Garp?!" Klahadore begins to sweat profoundly and adjusts his glasses four or five times in shock.

"Yep. He's my gramps."

"I... see. Well, I will tend to other matters. I'm sure Merry and you are in good company with these respectable people." The butler's attitude suspiciously makes a one-hundred-eighty turn.

Usopp watches the man hurry out of the villa. He raises his eyebrows. "Am I the only one who thinks he looked as if he had a stick up his ass?"

"Usopp!" Kaya says with a chiding voice, "Klahadore always looks penetrated. He can't help it and we shouldn't mock him for it."

They burst out laughing. All but Luffy. The Marine tilts his head. "What does penetrated mean?"

Nami and Zoro stop chuckling in order to throw their friend an incredulous glance. "Garp taught you about seduction but not about what comes after that?" the swordsman inquires.

Luffy shakes his head and the green haired man lets out a sigh. "You know what? I don't think we're the right people to give you that talk. I'll tell you who you can ask for that when I find a suitable person, okay?"

"U-huh!"

Luckily, they're saved out of the ensuring awkwardness by the other butler called Merry.  
"Miss Kaya! You have friends over, what a rare occurrence." the elderly man speaks in a friendly tone. Kaya flushes deep red at the implication. So what?! It's not as if there are many other teenagers in Syrup Village besides Usopp!

Merry makes them tea and seats them in the beautiful winter garden which is overgrown with all sorts of flowers and wonderful plants that stretch their blossom heads and leaves towards the sun which ethereally sends rays of sunshine streaming into the room. They ultimately not only light it up but also heat the tiles on the floor. Contrary to the former white-blue scheme those are in a mystical obsidian black littered with little specks of silver. It makes them look like a night's sky.

Nami's tea of choice, a fresh herb mix, makes the experience even better. Interestingly, Zoro doesn't complain at the lack of alcohol and instead drinks his jasmine green tea in peace while Usopp and Luffy both are handed cinnamon-apple tea.

"To what do we owe your presence?" Merry asks, sipping at his own Earl Grey.

Luffy looks at Nami pleadingly. She doesn't understand immediately but when she does, she jumps in: "We would like to request your assistance with our ship. It's a disgusting shade of pink and we don't know if it's even usable at all. I've been noticing some creaking as well so that's gotta be looked at preferably."  
Apparently her captain only knows how to use manners with girls. Strange tutelage on Garp's part, she guesses.

The sheep-like butler sighs. "Creaking, you say? Something could be wrong with the keel then. If it's really that, nothing can be done about it but to buy another ship if you don't want to sink down."

Usopp shows his interest: "Really, can't it be repaired?"

Merry shakes his head. Another sip of Earl Grey, then: "No, I'm afraid not. The keel is the ship's main part. Most people grow too attached to their vessels and simply disregard its damage. It's common for East Bluers to not survive their travel in the Grandline's sea because ships from here don't have sturdy enough keels for long usage in those rough conditions, you see? So, once the keel is damaged, you are basically doomed if you don't get a new ship."

"That's... sad." Luffy says frowning. Merry looks confused. The boy elaborates: "If a ship from the East Blue becomes nakama and wants to sail with her crew until they achieve their dreams... It's sad if she can't do that because of her Kyle."

"Wow, there I wanted to congratulate you for being sensible and then you mess it with the last word." Usopp says sweat-dropping.

"Well, sad or not, we can go to the shore and I'll see what I can do, alright?"

The Marine Pirates agree and walk to the Eyesore Wreckage with Merry, Kaya and Usopp in tow. They suddenly come to a halt when Luffy motions them to be quiet. On the shore underneath them, a familiar butler is talking to a weird guy with pink heart-shaped glasses.  
"I'll come tomorrow with the rest of the crew." the one with coat and pointy chin informs Klahadore.

Said butler huffs: "Yes, at dawn. I will dispose of Merry and while the others kill the villagers, you get the _young miss_ to sign the contract. Understood, Jango?"

Merry and Kaya draw in a unison breath at those elaborations. Luffy's eyes glint dangerously as he clutches Usopp's overall to restrain the sniper from doing anything stupid.

They watch as the men bid their farewells to each other. When the bespectacled (now former) butler retreats, they wait a few seconds before Usopp grits out: "I... I can't let that happen. The villagers... you, Kaya, I can't let him harm you!" and the long-nosed boy would have sprinted to yell out the plan he's witnessed but Luffy's ordering voice stops him just in time.

" **Wait** "

Usopp wants to protest but the dark emotionless expression on the other's face lets him recoil in fear for he has never seen anything so dangerous.  
"Usopp, Kaya, Merry... I won't let anyone hurt you. In the name of the Marine Pirates, this village is under my protection!" Luffy growls.

"Marine Pirates?" Kaya asks weakly while Merry simply seems intrigued.

"Yes. Zoro, Nami, Usopp, we'll stay near Kaya's home tonight. We'll beat the butler tomorrow and then we stop the invasion."  
Merry clears his throat. "Might I suggest you go to the north shore as they will surely not use this one after you dealt with Klaha... Kuro?"

Luffy, Zoro and Nami nod in determination. Usopp wonders why the pirate captain has automatically included him in his plan but accepts it readily. Everything to save Syrup!  
However strained they are, they don't forget what their original objective is. The Eyesore Wreckage is anchored half a kilometre away. Merry frowns when he sees it.

"Strange, I could have sworn this ship belonged to the Alvida Pirates." he muses.

"Not anymore" Luffy says sheepishly.

"Ah, I understand."

Merry begins inspecting the ship wholly. He rounds it and after a while piles his clothes, besides his underwear, next to the group and dives into the sea to take a look at the keel. After a while he resurfaces with a grave mimic. "It's worse than I thought. If you had travelled any farther, it would have sunken for sure!"

"Eh" Luffy scratches his chin, "What are we gonna do now? I mean, we could steal the ship of Kuro's mates when we're done with them but if they're anything like the fat whale lady and her men I don't think theirs is gonna be in a much better state."

Merry agrees. Kaya chimes in: "If you... if you really manage to beat Klahadore you can have my ship."

"Miss Kaya! It's your parents'!" the elderly man gasps astonished.

A bitter smile clouds her pale lips. "I'm sick, Merry! What the hell could a girl like me do with a caravel? No, it's better to give it to them. Because at least they will have a ship until they make it to the Grandline then."

"Alright"

Nami tiredly yawns. She uses Zoro's right muscled shoulder as a pillow. They camp in front of the bush fence and Luffy is the only one completely unaffected by the tiredness seeping into their bodies. Usopp nuzzles the warmth beneath his cheek.

"Why the hell are you both lying on me?!" the swordsman grumbles but doesn't shove either of them off of his shoulders. What a big softie.  
"Shishishi" Luffy quietly chuckles as he looks fondly at his sleepy nakama. Ah, Usopp doesn't know he's nakama yet but even if he refuses, Luffy will just refuse the sharpshooter's refusal.

Morning dawns slowly but all slowness vanishes as the den den mushi Merry has given them rings. It's time. Klahadore has woken up.  
The butler leaves the house mere moments later, thinking Merry likely to be in town even though it's early as he couldn't find the hidden sheep-like man.

Honestly, Nami doesn't know why they didn't just take the butler out the day before because her captain has beaten the man in less than three minutes. Luffy slings the smoking and broken body of the former captain Kuro on his shoulder.  
Disappointing indeed. But there is a reason why he had his friends cautiously waiting in front of the villa. "Yup" he says, "Kuro was easy enough. His nakama are yours to fight."

"WHAT?!" Nami and Usopp cry out.

"Why would I wait for him until the next day? Have you never heard of endurance training?"

"AGAIN, WHAT?!"

"Zooorooo, ne? Explain them!" Luffy drawls out.

The green haired man blinks. "Obviously it's training. This is the East Blue. Our captain was trained by a vice admiral who sails the Grandline as if it's nothing. Are you stupid?"  
Tears of defeat roll down Nami's and Usopp's faces.

"Wait a second!" Usopp tries to cop out, "I'm not part of your crew!"

The Marine captain asks: "Oi, Usopp?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna be part of the crew?"

"Sure! ...Ah, shit." They collectively sweat-drop while Luffy's laugh rings like an annoying taunting poltergeist in their heads.  
They make their way to the north shore. Half of them are extremely tired and the other half, Zoro and his captain, are as fresh as ever. Since the words "They're yours to fight" have been uttered the swordsman has a giddy grin on his face. It looks horrifying and Usopp is glad they're on the same side. Maybe he will let Zoro do everythi-

"Oh, yes, before I forget! I'm watching what you'll do and if you refuse to fight I'm going to be disappointed in you." That shouldn't sound as threatening as it does, the long-nosed teen thinks.  
Nami sighs but puts her bo staff together in advance.

"Hey, heads up! If they're super hardcore, I'll help."  
Why the hell is that so mocking? Nobody taunts Captain Usopp's sniping skills! "Don't bother, captain! Nami, Zoro and I will do fine!"

"Shishishi! That's the spirit! I have demonstrated you how one can still fight without much sleep. You have to get used to that. Attackers won't wait until you're fully rested. Understood?"

"Understood!" they echo. Luffy is an odd one – stupidity mixed with some intelligence at times. That's a combo Usopp would have never thought to find in a person. Yet, here his captain is in all his glory at an ungodly hour of day, carrying an infamous pirate on his shoulder because that's just what he does.

Alas, the sniper finds himself to be quite anxious for the upcoming battle. A bit of panic litters his heart and bothers his mind. He has never had to fight anyone seriously until now. Of course he's nervous as hell! However, when his eyes lie on Zoro and Nami, his friends and _nakama_ , he can't help but feel calmer.  
He had known them for a day at most and yet he trusts them as if they'd been close for years.

There it is – the north shore. Almost looks like a picture, like one of those West Blue gun showdown posters for upcoming books. He's only ever heard of them from Merry when he'd been younger, more accepted in the village and still allowed to play with Kaya without anybody judging him. As he stands on top of the slope and his eyes roam over the sea's sun reflecting surface and his hand steadily holds the slingshot he's wielded since he had been a foolish boy waiting for his father to visit him, he feels alive for the first time in nearly forever. Adrenaline in his veins and his heart beating in a staccato pace, Usopp realizes it's all he ever dreamed of right here.

Without noticing it, he has become a great warrior... and soon he'll upgrade it to "a great warrior of the seas". He barely notices Luffy's relaxed humming. He barely notices Nami's slight shudder as a gust of cool wind blows past them. He barely notices Zoro's bandana being untied from his biceps and fastened on his head. He barely notices anything at all besides the big black ship pulling up to the shore and the strange man from the day before appearing from behind the big wall of earth and stone in front of them.

The guy twirls around, asking: "And who would you be?" as if he had the right to inquire this from someone who's lived his whole life on Gecko Islands.

Luffy has retreated with the battered body of this weirdo's captain so it's Usopp who yells: "Who we are?! We are the Marines!"  
His knees are shaking but he has made an impression of the bespectacled Egyptian-looking mad hatter as said man winces in shock. "The Marines?!" he asks sourly clicking his tongue, "What are the marines doing here?!"

"W-We're here to stop you!" Usopp says bravely.  
Zoro grins like he were the devil's child. "What he said." he practically hisses. Nami doesn't feel the need to say anything because she's looking menacing enough with her bo staff dancing around from one hand to the other.  
A coward, a swordsman and a thief have a whole village behind their backs. While those people aren't physically with them and would probably, hopefully, never get to know how close they were that day to losing it all, the three of them still experience a streak of protectiveness in their hearts. Pirates they might be but that doesn't matter.

What matters is the situation they're in. For a second, nobody moves. Then, the stranger's, Jango's, hand shoots towards the metal disk which hangs from his neck by a chain. Usopp will have none of it as he doesn't want his opponent to unleash his weapon, how the stranger uses it is absolutely irrelevant. It's the principle of maintaining an upper hand which leads the long-nosed boy to load up his slingshot with ammunition and fire it directly into the older man's face.

Jango staggers back with a yelp. He isn't defeated but his eyes must burn horribly for the glasses have splintered and the Tabasco sauce can unleash its fury fully. Usopp's body vibrates with the knowledge that he has really deliberately hurt someone. Even if it's the apparent vice captain of Kuro's former crew... it's an alien feeling.

The sniper doesn't hesitate to shoot another bullet, this time one to shatter the metal disk. He's surprisingly successful in doing so and Zoro lets out a low appreciative whistle. The swordsman's time to fight will soon come as well due to the ship's inhabitants storming out in waves. They gather around their commander who clutches his tearing eyes.

"Captain Jango! What happened?!" one of them... meows... questioningly. Their cat theme is quite unsettling.

"T-Those marines!" the hypnotist points at Nami, Zoro and Usopp, "Kill them! We have no time to lose."

All of a sudden, the hoard starts running up the hill. The long-nosed boy has to suppress the urge to flee. Now is certainly not the time for uncertainties! Zoro clutches his beloved white sword between his teeth and unsheathes the other two as well. _"Don't ever underestimate your enemy, Zoro."_ Luffy had said once when they have been floating around on the sea aimlessly because Nami hadn't been with them yet. _"Everyone can pull up a mask."_

Indeed he'll have to thank his captain later as he ploughs through rows of pussycats only to be confronted by two extremely weak looking guys. One of them has green hair and fitting to the theme a hunchback and the other one is just plainly fat without the slightest trace of muscle. Sham and Buchi act foolishly for a couple of moments before they all but vanish into clouds of dust twirling up from their movements. Zoro doesn't let down his guard and blocks the first attacker neatly. Sham grinds his teeth.

"Roronoa Zoro, huh? Seems like your name isn't just show."

"Tche, of course not. Gotta live up to the rep, right?" the green haired swordsman growls with a canine smirk and blocks Buchi's cowardly attack from behind too. He's trapped between the two idiots, well, they think he is. Zoro could simply do a quick circle with his swords to force them to back off but what would the fun be in that? Time to test his moonwalking abilities!

Tapping ten times with the foot to the ground, he, instead of flying up into the air, lunges incredibly quickly forward and into the sea... wait what?

"AHHHHH, IDIOT CAPTAIN WHAT DID YOU TEEEEEACH MEEEEE?!"

"SHIIIIT ZOOOROOO. I'M SORRY THAT WAS THE WRONG TECHNIQUE!" is yelled from the crown of a tree.

Nami fights some lackeys and Usopp snipes them but they have enough time to sweat-drop. At least Sham and Buchi are out cold because somehow Zoro has managed to slice through them as he was catapulted into the water.  
Apropos Zoro... "He can swim, right?" Usopp asks unsurely.

"Eh... I don't know?" the orange haired navigator answers equally unsure.

A splash is heard and Zoro resurfaces from the sea looking like a pissed monster. His eyes promise death and his lips are pulled into a snarl. He vanishes again, set on abusing his new power and strikes down Jango who is about to throw another disk at Nami.  
The Black Cats' numbers rapidly decimate as Zoro slashes aggressively, Nami hits cunningly and Usopp snipes well enough to make his father proud.  
After a while, Jango is the only one standing but only because he leans on a rock as he clutches the gaping wound on his side. "Damn marines" he mutters before yelling: "YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOUR SHARE SOON WHEN CAPTAIN KURO COMES!"

"Do you mean this captain Kuro?" a cheeky voice asks. Jango looks down where something has been thrown and stares into the bloody face of his former captain. He gasps. This... this can't be true! Slowly averting his gaze from Kuro he sees the man whom the voice belongs to. Slightly muscled, a red captain's coat draped on his shoulders and a straw hat... if it weren't for the last item this boy would have reminded him greatly of the first Pirate King because the smile carved in this face is just as Earth shaking as Roger's.

"W-Who... who... are you?" Jango presses out under immense pain. Hopelessness looms over him.

"Monkey D. Luffy, captain of the Marine Pirates and future Pirate King!"

The hypnotist chuckles weakly. "Marine Pirates, mh? Interesting, interesting indeed..." and then he glides into unconsciousness.

Luffy digs in his nose. "Good job everyone!" he says to his nakama. Two of them, Nami and Usopp, are heavily sweating and their bodies show a respectable amount of bruises. Contrary to them, Zoro isn't sweating at all... he is drenched in sea water and raises an eyebrow at his captain.

"So what the hell did you teach me? It wasn't moonwalk."

"I taught you shave. But... waaaait. I made the same mistake when I've instructed Coby. Why the hell was he able to moonwalk anyways?" Luffy casually questions.

Zoro snorts. "Yeah, well, like I said. The kid's not normal." They all decide to leave it at that for now.

The Marine captain rummages through his many shorts pockets (Zoro has flashbacks at that) until he comes across the den den mushi from Merry. Typing in the number he's learned by hard he waits for the other end to pick up. Three rings and a woman's voice tones: "Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi here, 0-2-2-4-5-1-1-4, inquire name and number please!"

"Captain Monkey D. Luffy here, 2-2-5-8-8-6-5-7, I'm currently located on the Gecko islands, north shore, and my team and I have encountered the assumed dead Captain Kuro as well as the remains of the Black Cat pirates. I need a team of enforcers, understood?"

"Understood crystal clear, Sir. A team will be sent to your location shortly. Your immediate vice admiral is Garp as I can see, do you wish to report to him yourself or should I do the task?" Tashigi asks dutifully.

Luffy answers: "I leave you the task. Tell him following: Hotel, India, Foxtrot, Romeo, Oscar, Mike, Yankee, Oscar, Uniform, Romeo, Golf, Romeo, Alpha, November, Delta, Sierra, Oscar, November! Over and out."

"W-What? But that spells..." Tashigi tries to say but is interrupted by Luffy unceremoniously cutting the connection. After that, he turns around to face his crewmembers who are once again staring in disbelief at their captain.

They stay silent up to Kaya's mansion and then... "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" all three intone harshly.

"Shishishi, gramps has kind of given me a marine code which registers me as his subordinate? I honestly don't know why he'd do that but well." Luffy crosses his arms, "We have to hurry up, guys. The enforcers will arrive in about two hours. Usopp, pack your stuff and come to the other shore where our ship waits, Nami and Zoro – Wash yourself and eat something. Close range fighting and using something like shave requires a lot of energy."

They don't move. "Anything unclear, guys?" Luffy tilts his head and blinks innocently a couple of times.

"No..." they mutter and scram.

Luffy walks to the shore silently. He lets out a breath. Good. He's done it. His nakama are safe and Zoro has learned shave. How the hell Coby has learned moonwalk from the instruction of shave Luffy'll never know but the pink haired boy only had a premise towards observation because he's tried to avoid his tormentor's hits for years... So for Luffy's nakama to learn haki, he'll have to let them fight their battles.

While haki would only later on be mandatory it doesn't hurt for his crewmates to begin training it. Yes, he could have described the power but he doesn't want them to throw themselves into danger all the time just for training.

They will encounter vice admirals, admirals, infamous pirates and bounty hunters (should the marine decide to give them a bounty) in the future. That's dangerous enough. A jackass like Zoro would, if he knew the principle of haki, storm into every bit of hell he sees and ultimately steal opportunities for the others. A thief like Nami would unconsciously avoid dangerous situations if Luffy didn't force her to participate. And Usopp? He's cowardly but shows such a great potential it would be absolutely wasted if Luffy didn't encourage it.

The black haired teen arrives at the shore where Merry and the ship wait.

"Going Merry is its name" the old man says fondly as he rubs the wooden frame of the carvel.

"A good name for a good ship." Luffy smirks, "My mates will come soon. Here's your den den mushi." The boy wants to hand Merry his snail but the elderly man holds up his hands and shakes his head.

"Keep it" he says, "You'll need it on your journey and den den mushi aren't really cheap nowadays."

"Thanks, old man! Shishishi."

"Tse" Merry clicks his tongue, "For you Mister Old Man. Hah... the youth. Take good care of Usopp and the ship, alright?"

"Of course." Luffy vows.


	3. East Blue III

**East Blue! Part III**

* * *

 **Don Krieg and Sanji**

* * *

"You're cheating!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are-"

Usopp is silenced by the thunderous demon grimace Nami makes as she casually strolls by. He looks at the cards again and then to his captain whose grin is brighter than the lightly clouded sea above. They have been playing various card games and, contrary to the long-nosed sniper's presumption that Luffy's absolutely going to be terrible at any of them, so far, the Marine captain has won every match. It angers Usopp, it despairs Usopp but on top of it all, he doesn't understand it.

Is Luffy smart or dumb? Is he a hidden tactical genius or does he merely abuse a never ending pot of luck? Is he actually playing fair or does he live up to pirate standards when it comes to cheating? Monkey D. Luffy didn't seem mysterious before but now that he had the pleasure to sail with this bunch of weirdoes, Usopp finds himself growing restless when he thinks about the straw hat wearer.

Sometimes, Luffy will still completely and as soon as that happens, Usopp can sense a shift in atmosphere. Where a carefree young pirate has been seconds ago a wise adult replaces him. And just when Usopp believes he can figure something out, Luffy's smile splits the serious face he has adorned. Maybe he's imagining things?

Well, Nami seems to understand Usopp's confusion just fine. She oftentimes tries to decipher her captain as well... and when she doesn't, her sneaky thief facade crumbles and underneath a forlorn and sad girl appears.

Seriously! The only one who doesn't have any secrets besides Usopp is Zoro. The sniper glances at the green haired swordsman who has nodded off into a deep state of slumber. Usopp's left eyelid begins to twitch for he hasn't considered the possibility of Zoro simply being too often asleep or in a state of consistent workout to bear any emotional depths before. Now though, seeing a bubble of snot steadily in- and deflating from the swordsman's nostril, the long-nosed boy sees it all too clear.

Zoro is too simple for secrets. Alcohol, swords, honour, sleep and a bit of snarky behaviour – at least Usopp thinks that is what there is to Zoro. Hopefully he's right... otherwise he'll soon be going insane with his comrades all having dramatic mood shifts and him being the only normal person on board. Okay, Zoro isn't normal either. Maybe Usopp should stop craving normalcy and instead accept the craziness which is housed in their crew.

He sighs and throws down his cards in defeat. Luffy whoops, striking a fist into the air.

"What are we gonna do now? The weather's clear and I'm sure as hell not gonna go play another losing game against you." the sniper asks with raised eyebrows. Surprisingly, it's Nami answering him: "How about somebody finally paints our Jolly Roger? I mean, yeah, we're the Marines... but we're pirates, right?"

Luffy makes his disgusting thinking face for a second (Usopp swears it's a look into the gateways of hell because he's never seen something as demonic and unholy as this) and then he nods in approval. "Good idea! We're the Marine Pirates so we should make the marine symbol really big... and under it we'll just draw a tiny skull. Like..." Luffy grabs a piece of fabric and starts to paint their symbol with Usopp's paints, "Like this!"

The straw hat wearing captain holds up his masterpiece and instantly three rows of shudder run down Usopp's spine – one because of his disgust, another one because he's _scared_ of that abomination Luffy has created and the third one because of amazement at how a human is able to give birth to something like that.

A snot bubble bursts and Zoro's eyes open up. The first thing his eyes see is Luffy's Jolly Roger and he mutters: "What the fuck is that? It's terrifying."

"Eh... I don't want to discourage your _artistic abilities_ but if you want to keep me as your navigator, that's not going to be hanging from our mast." Nami dead-pans.

Luffy looks scrutinizing at his own piece of work and then he glances back at his friends. His fist meets his palm. "Yosh!" he exclaims, "You're right. Even I am scared of that!"

Usopp facepalms. After a moment of deeply questioning his decisions of becoming a pirate, he shoves Luffy out of the way and says dramatically: "The Great Captain Usopp has to show you how it's done!" He lets his creativity and imagination roam free until he ends up with a perfect marine emblem which has a long-nosed skull with a slingshot beneath it.

Nami, Luffy and Zoro raise their eyebrows in unison. "Eh" begins Luffy, "I'm pretty sure that's not what I drew..." he glances at his drawing, "then again, I actually don't know what I drew, honestly."

The orange haired woman standing besides Zoro lets out an exasperated breath. She asks: "Could you, I don't know, maybe _not_ waste any other perfectly fine sails with your goofs?!"

Usopp analyzes his version of the logo. Oh, what the -?!

"Guys, really, I didn't mean to draw myself!" he cries in fear of what he himself has become.

"Yeah, sure." Zoro murmurs.

"No, for real! I'm not kidding you! That's not what I... aw, fucking hell, I think I'm going insane or something." The last few words are uttered quietly to himself as Usopp promptly turns around to accustom the Jolly Roger to his actual captain. He is pretty sure it's unhealthy for his hands to automatically draw himself – perhaps it's just some minor sunstroke, he comforts himself. He isn't used to the rough sea and the undisturbed sun burning down onto his thick black hair.

It... it can't be actual... actual insanity or something like that, right? RIGHT?!

"Ne, Zoro, why is Usopp giggling like that?" Luffy points towards mentioned madly chuckling crewmember.

"That's normal. It's the sea. Some people are getting used to the weather and shakiness of the boat quicker than others. I remember my old friends Johnny and Yosaku – Yosaku threw up a couple of times when he boarded his first dinghy. Man, I hope they aren't dead." Zoro tells his captain and navigator, "I mean, I sometimes end up the wrong direction because some stuff just decides to randomly move around but nothing beats their stupidity on sea..."

"What do you mean?" Nami asks intrigued.

"Well" Zoro begins with an amused smirk on his rough face, "Once, when I wasn't the one hissing the sails, Johnny made little swans out of them. 'For practice' he told us... yeah, good and fine alright, but we didn't have any spares. Who d'ya think had to paddle to the next island? I had to because their arms were practically sticks even though they trained with me. I really wonder what happened to them."

"Sounds like they probably drowned." Nami remarks.

"Wouldn't surprise me." The green haired swordsman nods but then he adorns a frown. "Oh, goddamn. I've forgotten what usually happens when I mention them..."

"Huh?"

Zoro sighs and rubs his nose bridge. "I don't know why and I don't know how but every time I tell people about Yosaku and Johnny, they kinda always appear from out of nowhere. I've accidentally been in the Calm Belt once and they still managed to get their arses to that tiny island I was on." He shakes his head as if he wants to evict his memories, "It's as if I have some sensor in my head that tells me they're near..."

Nami's unbelieving gaze meets his. She says: "That sounds pretty impossible."

The swordsman clucks his tongue and decides to go take a nap again. It's a quiet day and the only annoying thing is his rumbling stomach. They don't have any booze left... oh... and they don't have any food either.

Suddenly, though, a loud explosion draws his immediate attention to his two other male crewmates. Both stare in awe at a rock which is undoubtedly hit by one of their cannon balls. Zoro whistles in appreciation while Usopp's wide agape mouth indicates that the sniper is astonished by his own handiwork.  
"Nice!" Luffy yells, stars in his eyes. His captain's coat flutters in the slight windy breeze, proud and unrelenting. It reminds Usopp of his father who always looked at him the exact same way when he managed to hit something. The long-nosed teen can't help but blush a bit at the affectionate callout.

"Pff... boys..." Nami states with a smile dancing around her lips.

And this would have made an excellent display of friendship if it weren't for Luffy's face blanching. "SHIT!" he cries, "THERE ARE PEOPLE ON THAT ROCK!"

"WHAT?!" Nami, Usopp and Zoro shout in shock.

Luffy tenses a couple of seconds. He begins digging his nose. "Ah, okay, they're fine. One of them seems a bit sick but that wasn't our doing."

The sniper and navigator comically fall over but the swordsman, as intelligent and perceptive as he can be every now and then... maybe every once in a fortnight, starts sporting a deep frown. "How many are there?" he asks his captain.  
Said captain answers: "Two" and Zoro's face goes all neutral before he orders: "Steer the ship to that rock. If I'm right, and god I hope I'm not, then it's _them_."

Nami, a quick thinker and very smart woman herself, puts two and two together. "Them?!" she demands, "You... you don't mean your two friends. What were their names? Johnny and..."

"Yosaku. Johnny and Yosaku and yes, I mean them. Would be creepy if it's really them but I wouldn't put it past those nutcases."

Their captain considers for a moment but nods in approval. Why not? If they are really Zoro's friends then they're his friends too. (Usopp doesn't want to argue with this logic even though he is tempted sometimes. It would be fruitless, however, as Luffy is a capital WEIRD guy.)

To their utter horror, it's actually Johnny and Yosaku. Johnny, a black haired and sunglasses wearing type of guy – see, he even looks like a real Johnny – wants to throw a tirade because of the bombing. As soon as his eyes find to the green haired man who watches him tiredly, he heaves up Yosaku to get him looked at.

"You're fucking stupid." Nami declares as she glares down at Johnny. She turns to Zoro. "Are they always like that?" she grunts exasperatedly.

Zoro snorts with his arms crossed. "Yeah. I mean, call me an idiot all you want but I know how to avoid the most common sailor's illness there is."

"I'm gonna press some lemons. C'mon Usopp, help me!" Luffy says.

Johnny's head bops from Nami to Zoro to Luffy and Usopp. His bottom lip wobbles in despair as he dramatically hugs Yosaku to his chest. With gut-wrenching sobs he grits out: "H-He won't die?! Y-Yosaku... will he live?!"

"Yep" Zoro states dead-panned, "If you can fucking bring him to eat citrus fruits once in a while. Goddamn, did you allow him to eat chocolate all day long again? And how the hell don't you look like him as well? You always ate that shit with him when I didn't bother you about it."

"Huh?" Johnny tilts his head in confusion, "Why would I only eat chocolate? I wouldn't wanna risk scurv... oh. _Oh!_ " There is an awkward silence between Nami, Zoro and Johnny.

"I'm just going to pretend that this conversation never took place." The orangette says with a raised eyebrow.

"You got it, Sis!" Johnny flashes her thumbs up.

Together, they solve the problem of Yosaku's scurvy pretty fast. The newly cured madman dances around with a bright grin, arm in arm with his lifelong partner.  
Nami asks Zoro: "Are... are they you know?"

The swordsman shrugs nonchalantly. "I don't know. Asked myself the same thing many times. Actually, I don't think they know themselves... lemme rephrase that." He adds when he spots Johnny twirling around Yosaku who breaks down throwing up after five circles, "I don't think they know something like a relationship between two men exists. Just look at them."

Johnny sniffs as he holds onto Yosaku. It's a scene straight out of a yaoi manga, honestly. Nami would know as her sister has hoarded some of those in her mid-teens. "They're absolutely clueless." She decides and Zoro has to agree completely.

Well, after all their drama, the two bounty hunters prove somewhat useful. Apparently, they know where the Marine Pirates can get a cook and a damn good one at that. Baratie, the restaurant on the sea, is the place to go to. Luffy believes he's heard of it before during his training with his grandpa as it seems to be a place highly respected marines and pirates equally visit. Cooks there are rumoured to be tough and ruthless when dealing with dine-n-dashers or dangerous criminals.

So, naturally, the first thing Luffy thinks is: "Yup"... and there is no second thought.

They spend the trip to the Baratie trying to get Johnny and Yosaku to understand why they're the Marine Pirates but those two are kind of idiotic and eventually just drift off into a discussion about the existence of the World Government itself.

"I mean – Zoro-Bro and us, we were bounty hunters together-" Yosaku begins and is interrupted by said green haired swordsman muttering: "Didn't have any say in that" but he takes it with humour and continues by explaining: "And we'd oftentimes come to islands where the marines were more feared than pirates. The government is always there and if you're unfortunate enough to get a real shitty marine captain then there's absolutely nothing you can do about it when you're a small fry. On the other hand, pirates are rare in East Blue and most of them have already fix headquarters."

"Like that Arlong guy." Johnny jumps in. Unnoticed by them but not by Luffy is the short shudder erupting Nami's shoulders. He throws her a glance. She, however, looks away to the other side.

"Yeah, exactly. And that's why we're sort of doubting the World Government right now. They're not giving enough fucks and can't even control the weakest pirates. That Buggy guy you said you easily beat up? Well, he'd been terrorizing East Blue for ages! Nobody even thought about doing something against him until you did!" Yosaku declares, his cheeks tinted red with rage.

Johnny pats him soothingly on the shoulder and says: "At this point, Yosaku and I are doing the marine's job, at least here in the East. Sure, there are some guys we can't take on but we keep track of how many criminals we beat... the marines don't want us to know the stats but we always find out that our numbers are far higher than theirs."

"We're only two people. You understand how fucked up that is, right?" Yosaku ends.

Luffy nods. "Shitty marines. I mean marines, not Marines. Marines. Oh fuck." His face goes blank for one second before he breaks out into laughter, "Shishishi! I tricked myself."

Usopp clears his throat and draws everybody's attention to him. "Yeeeeah... sooo... I appreciate the short interlude of elaborating on how doomed this world's government is and the skit afterwards but I have to interrupt you now 'cause I think we've just arrived." he says pointing at the restaurant in front of them.

It's a truly magnificent sight as the craftsmanship on this particular ship must have been exercised by somebody who knows their art. One can even spot the fish's scales.  
The Marine Pirates simultaneously let out an awed gasp – including Nami who isn't often swayed by Luffy's impressionable demeanour. The experience is soured quickly, though, by an upcoming marine vessel with a pompous figure standing on its board. Although Zoro doesn't think they'll do much harm, he unsheathes Wado Ichimonji just in case.

The flashy figure with lilac hair and light green pinstripe suit points at the Going Merry and inquires: "And who you might be? I've never seen your caravel before! I'm the great Iron First Fullbody and I..."

"We're the Marines. I'm their captain. My name is Monkey D. Luffy, vice admiral Garp's grandson."

Suddenly, the grand demeanour vanishes and makes place for shock. Fullbody's mouth is open for a couple of seconds before he nods. "Ah! A respectable fellow marine, I understand! Well, then I won't disturb you. I hope you enjoy your food, Captain!"

"Shishishi! Thanks, you too!"

With that, the two ships anchor side by side and an argument has been successfully avoided. "You know what?" Nami leans over to Usopp, "I think I'm getting used to the Marine/marine thing." she says smoothly. Her companion grins, answering: "It's funny that it works every time."

Yosaku wants to stay on board as he isn't quite well just yet and Johnny, the devoted lifelong partner he is, decides to give him company. Luffy promises them to bring some food for them as well and with that done, the Marine Pirates stride in. The Baratie's interior isn't lacking compared to its outer appearance as it is elegant and strikingly clean. Zoro blinks, letting his eyes roam around while resting his elbow relaxed on the tops of his swords. He isn't used to such fancy places but if the booze is good, everything else automatically is also good by default.

They decide to take the empty table which is located just in front of a staircase. It's nice and not too in the middle of it all. As soon as they are seated, a black clad man with cigarette and blond hair goes to take their orders... well, that would have happened if Vinsmoke Sanji were a normal guy. Alas, he is not – he is a devoted gentleman, one who falls to his knees in submission should a beautiful lady throw him a glance.

So, instead of straight up taking their orders, Sanji makes a rose appear out of thin air and gifts it to a stunned Nami. She, of course, is immediately aware of every bit the advantage she has. Somehow, she ends up making Sanji give her a huge discount.

"Could we maybe get a discount too?" Usopp asks charmingly. Instantly, the gentlemanly facade cracks and left is a cold glare as Sanji regards him.

"No, you guys all pay the full amount." He says neutrally after taking a drag from his cigarette and blowing the smoke in the sniper's direction. Usopp swallows the need to cough and trades it with a rather savage comeback: "Ah, I understand. Repressed sexuality has to be a pretty tough thing."

"What's that supposed to mean, long-nose?!" Sanji asks dangerously and Usopp feels as if he has said the stupidest thing ever. Luckily, Zoro is there to aid him by answering for him: "You probably like dick that's why you gotta act as if you're the personification of heterosexuality to cover it up."

The blond cook snorts. "Even if that were true, which it is _not_ because I absolutely adore ladies, it would be at least normal unlike your katana fetish. Don't try to project your abnormal bedding habits onto me, moss brain."

There is an utter silence at their table but it doesn't last long because Usopp begins giggling behind his hand as Zoro blushes a bright red and Nami snickers.  
"He may be a sexist but he's just completely obliterated you." The sharpshooter states between huffs. The poor swordsman tries to recover from the accusations but there is absolutely nothing he could say to make it any less embarrassing for him. His captain gives him an idea though. Said straw hat wearer plays with some loose threads of his red coat while pouting because he doesn't understand what the whole conversation was about. Damn it, he isn't stupid! He just... lacks knowledge sometimes.

"Oi, Luffy!" Zoro calls out, still a bit red in the face, "You know what I told you back in Syrup? I think he's the kind of guy who could answer your question. Why don't you ask him?"

Luffy remembers his initial demand pretty quickly and after Nami and Usopp have finally actually ordered something, it's his turn. Sanji expectantly looks at him, raising his single visible eyebrow.

"Ne, Sanji? What is penetration?"

There are exactly fifteen people currently eating in the Baratie. Up until Luffy's loud question they had just been enjoying their time. Obviously, the innocently asked demand has them literally spitting out their food. Fullbody, who had wanted to obliterate Sanji for their argument earlier, wordlessly lets the fly in his hand go – it actually falls into his soup to his later dismay – and takes a sip from his wine.

Sanji is a little bit nonplussed but who is he to deny sexual education?

"Well, to begin with..." he wants to start but is interrupted by a wooden peg hitting his head. "Ouch! What the hell, old geezer?!"

"Are ye harassing the clientele again, little eggplant?! Go and make yerself useful for once!" the head chef called Zeff grunts dismayed. Some mocking back and forth between Sanji and Zeff later, the younger one bends to the orders and takes up Luffy's and Zoro's food requests.  
He vanishes behind the kitchen's doors. Luffy's face splits into a broad grin.

"Oh no." Zoro says gravely and Usopp starts to frantically chant: "No, no, no, no, no...!" However, Nami smirks darkly, chiming: "Oh, yes, yes, yes!"

Luffy chuckles. "Sanji's gonna be our cook!"

"NO!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"Why the hell would you want someone like that to make our meals?!" Zoro cries exasperatedly. Usopp shouts equally as fervently: "What if he jizzes into our food as some sort of sick revenge?!"

"What is jizz?" Luffy tilts his head and they all face-palm. Literally. The whole place face-palms.  
"Ask Sanji later. He seemed eager to explain." Nami chirps.

They don't have to wait long for their meals to arrive and Usopp as well as Zoro have to begrudgingly agree that the food is more than acceptable. Luffy shoves down his three ordered steaks pretty quickly albeit with all the manners he can muster.  
The door opens to reveal a panicked man in marine uniform. His eyes are searchingly looking for somebody and come to halt on Fullbody. "Lieutenant Fullbody, Sir! A prisoner has escaped!" he yells out desperately. Fullbody's face goes white. Muttering: "No, no – that can't be! I... I've starved them... they can't..." he fails to notice the other, more haggard man quietly stepping through the Baratie's entrance.

In his hand is a pistol and his dead-looking eyes are focused intensely on the target in front of him. He knows within the next two seconds the nameless marine in front of him will undoubtedly die – probably due to the bullet embedding in his skull. And if he shouldn't bite the grass instantly then he will soon enough... Gin has only the slightest delusions about his captain. After all, if he himself is already called a Man-Demon what is to be expected from somebody who reigns over him?

Gin lifts the gun to the poor lad's head and just as he is about to pull the trigger, a foot swiftly kicks the gun out of his fingers. It's so smooth and quick that he at first doesn't truly register the action. When he does, though, his gaze lies itself on the cigarette smoking man to his right whose whole leg is still unwavering in the air. Their eyes meet and a nonverbal fight breaks out.

The shocked gasp made by the marine isn't heard by either of them. Neither Gin nor Sanji pay much attention to the world around them.

A slight smirk is placed on the cook's mouth. "You look hungry." he says, "Would have been a shame if we couldn't serve you because you violated our rules of no killing in here, wouldn't it?"  
On cue, Gin's stomach begins to rumble painfully. He clutches it with an expression full of embarrassment. But contrary to his former behaviour, he just walks to the nearest table where he sits his ass down.

"I actually don't have any money right now." Gin utters, looking at the fancy tablecloth in front of him. A bulky cook wants to step up to him but Sanji throws a look at his colleague who wisely decides to shut up.

"You can always pay for it later. I'll give you something nutritional and rather cheap, alright?" Sanji barely glances at the pirate guest as he steps towards the kitchen's doors.

"W...Why are you doing this for me?!" Gin calls out just as the blond is about to enter his territory. The cook stills in his movement. He doesn't turn around when he clucks his tongue and states as if it's a matter of fact: "Nobody should go hungry. Absolutely nobody." Then he walks through the entrance, leaving Gin in a petrified state.

"He's awesome, isn't he?" a cheery male voice asks. Gin raises his eyebrows at the red coat and straw hat wearing boy who has appeared at his table. When the Krieg pirate doesn't answer, Luffy just continues: "He's my cook, you know? I haven't known him that long but he fits into our crew perfectly. His name's Sanji – oh, and I'm Luffy by the way. You are...?"

"Gin. Sanji is a very noble man. You must be glad he's with your crew."

"I am... Shishishi, well, I'm not too sure if _he_ 's happy about it." Luffy grins mischievously.

"Huh, why not?" the Man-Demon asks interested.

"Sanji doesn't know he's a part of the crew yet!"

"..." Gin has no words to say after that. His facial expression betrays him for it is distorted in an "Are you serious?" kind of way. But the other one either doesn't catch it or he doesn't care about Gin's speechlessness because he goes back to his own table all the while chuckling to himself. What a nutcase.  
A clueless Sanji comes back into the dining room with a plate full of a delicious smelling rice/seafood dish and a glass of fresh water. Gin can't help but feel utterly sorry for the blond. After all, he is about to be recruited by an insane barely adult mad-hatter. However, he doesn't warn Sanji because where would the fun be in letting him know?

Luffy and his crew are still resting at their table in the Baratie, "Wooo – Can I get anything else for the la-ha-dy?" and Sanji is dancing around in weird circles with hearts practically popping out of eye sockets. It's creeping Usopp out but he has ceased his mocking because Sanji's little display of kicking makes him feel a little bit wary. Zoro's napping after the great meal he's had and Luffy sometimes asks random questions about sexuality which Sanji readily answers. Mind you, they are still in a really boogie restaurant.

That's why Zeff, the owner, bonks his protégé on the head. "If ye wanna go with 'em, I'm not gonna stop ye – ye seemingly don't wanna work anyways."

"Tche" Sanji grits his teeth, "You're not going to get rid of me that easily, old man."

"Join my crew, Sanji!" Luffy innocently speaks up.

"No!" the cook shouts annoyed.

"Yeah, join his crew, little eggplant."

"Yeah, join my crew!"

"No!" the swirly-browed man once again declares, "I refuse!"

The Marine captain claps his hands. "You refuse?" he asks, then proceeds with poking Sanji's chest, saying proudly: "I refuse your refusal!"  
"What?!" Sanji asks in disbelief, "You... refuse my refusal...?"

"Yosh!"

"WHAT THE FUCK?" the cook cries which makes Zeff laugh.

"Hehe, yer future captain's a cheeky one."

Sanji's mouth is agape. He stares at the Marine Pirates, his eyes for a second shifting to hearts when Nami lands in his field of view, then he focuses on his boss. "Forget it, old geezer. I'm not going to leave this damn place until you bite the dust!"  
His steps echo on the tiled floor. Sanji goes back to the kitchen.

Zeff lets out a heavy sigh and rubs his nose bridge in aggravation. "That damn eggplant..." he grumbles but nevertheless also bids his goodbye to the Marines as he has some work to do.

Nami quietly hums to herself when the man is gone. After a while, she speaks up: "I think Sanji's a good choice for our cook."

"You sure you're not only saying that because he'll make you nice food all the time?" the sniper asks suspicious of their navigator's ulterior motives.

"...Well, I can't deny that that will come in handy but no, I mean something else. He refuses to leave his boss but Zeff himself obviously wants Sanji to be free. There's something we're missing and it's probably going to be really heart-warming but at the same time tear-inducing."

"You sure you're not only trying to justify your free food?"

Luffy bites on his bottom lip. For the first time, even though he's in deep thought, he doesn't make a circus attraction with his face. His crewmates are rather relieved and intrigued as to why it suddenly stopped. However, that doesn't matter as the captain muses: "I think Nami's right. I dunno. When he left that hungry guy's table, he said something about how _nobody should go hungry_. Maybe it's got to do something with that?"

They delve over the notion but don't come to a conclusion without asking Sanji himself. For some reason, asking "What kind of trauma did you endure when you were younger?" isn't the way to go in this situation. Nami doesn't want to lose her advantage, Luffy's ingrained manners stop him from straight up walking to his newest addition to the Marines and Usopp doesn't want to die. Zoro's asleep anyways and wouldn't care about the dubbed _love cook_ 's past. He generally isn't the guy to care about something like that.

After ordering some takeout for Johnny and Yosaku, they pay for their meals and leave the restaurant to spend the rest of their day on deck of Merry as it's sunny and warm.

As soon as they step out, they realize they left their snoring swordsman in the Baratie. Luffy just retrieves him by stretching his rubbery arm. Thankfully, Zoro doesn't wake up. He doesn't need the embarrassment of having shrieked like a little girl because he's flying through the air. Sanji's caused more than enough of that today.

They start playing Ludo, Johnny and Yosaku obviously forming a team, while the others tell them what happened in the Baratie.

"...so, yeah, now we got ourselves a cook. Stop rolling six, Luffy!" Usopp pokes his captain in annoyance.

"Shishishi, alright, I play normal."

"SO YOU DID CHEAT! AND I TRUSTED YOU!"

Luffy sticks his tongue out cheekily but from then on rolls the dice without redirecting it so fast nobody can see it. Nami snorts at their antics. She's happy with the crew's developments and the food was extraordinarily good which is gold for her temper-o-mat. Actual gold would be even better.

"Eh... but what if Sanji doesn't agree? Kidnapping is an option but I don't think you're the kind of people to do that." Yosaku inquires, watching Johnny get a two on his dice roll.

"That's why we're staying for a couple of days." Luffy answers, scratching his chin, "Let's see if the old "I refuse your refusal" method pays off. If it doesn't, well..." he doesn't say anything after that.

Nami gives him a dead-pan gaze. "You don't have a Plan B, do you?"

"Meh." The Marine captain shrugs, "Don't need to plan for that right now." He rolls the small black dice and pouts when he only sees one dot. Usopp smirks slyly at Luffy's misfortune. Karma's a bitch, though, because Nami's figure throws the sniper's off the board.

When the evening fades in and their game has long since switched to poker, at which even Zoro joins, most of the ships from the guests have been replaced by others. As the daylight is swapped with darkness and starry sky, the clientele also mostly consists of either extremely rich people or the complete opposite. Suspicious ships with Jolly Rogers and bounty hunter symbols are no rarity anymore. The Marines are captivated by the odd harmony between those rather opposing social classes, especially Nami whose eyes grow into beri-shapes at the loot she could undoubtedly get by plundering just one single wealthy vessel.

As they still need Sanji to join their crew, she is sadly banned from doing so as it would only cause a hassle later on.

Speaking of Sanji – he appears beside their ship with various plates of steaming food during their third poker game. "Oi!" he calls out, "The old geezer said you were still here and probably not leaving until tomorrow so I made you something to eat!"

He is promptly invited onto the Going Merry. His refusals are, once again, met with even more refusals and this time, he doesn't complain as much because he's off duty until 11 pm anyways. So he falls into a pace with this crew full of East Bluers with the ridiculous name "Marine Pirates".  
Sanji wouldn't want to admit it but making the marimo head flustered, flirting playfully with the beautiful navigator, goofing around with the captain and going into arguments with the sharpshooter are making him feel all fuzzy inside.  
This crew, he thinks, isn't just some mindlessly fighting mess. It's full of dreamers and loveable idiots (apart from Nami, of course – she is perfect) and if the situation were different he'd immediately go with them.

But Sanji can't. Pictures of Zeff's sacrifice flash behind his eyes when he takes a drag from a newly lit cigarette. He blows the smoke into the air and watches Johnny failing to hide his full house from Yosaku. Those two idiots are a class in and of themselves.

"I will always insist on you joining us. There's not going to be another cook apart from you on this ship." Luffy smiles at him. Sanji and he are leaning against the railing, enjoying some companionable silence and the occasional small talk.

The blond huffs amused. "Then you're going to have to find yourself a new ship."

"Nah" the younger one replies, "You just gotta come with us. You fit right in. Why not?"

"I have to repay a debt" Sanji finally reveals, "The old geezer saved my life and I'm not going to just leave him here hanging after all he's done for me."

"But you do have a dream, don't you?" Luffy inquires.

For a second, Sanji doesn't know whether he should talk about it or not. He's been met with mocking often enough that he normally would never tell it somebody like Luffy who he's known for such a short period of time. He sees understanding burning in those dark eyes. "You have one too?"

"Shishishi, of course! I'm going to be the Pirate King. What about you?"

Pirate King? Well, that's just as ridiculous as Sanji's goal. Fuck it – the Marines will leave anyways without him. Luffy seems to be a honest guy who wouldn't make fun of him. "I want to find the All Blue. It's a sea where fish from every Blue are swimming... it's a dream for many cooks but it's only a far-fetched legend. Dumb, huh?" He waits for the taunts.

They never come.

"That's awesome! Not dumb at all – just imagine what you could cook with so many possibilities!" Luffy's eyes sparkle with true excitement.

Sanji grins. "It does sound incredible... I wonder if there are any mermaids in the All Blue." Just the thought alone makes him dance and all hearty-lovey-dovey.  
After that, they end up talking about mermaids, sea monsters and different flavours of fish until Sanji is sure he has to go back to the restaurant. He looks at his watch, stretching like a cat before he announces his leaving.  
The Marines bid him their good night wishes which he readily returns when speaking to Nami.

Not long after that, one by one, they retreat to their quarters, with Johnny and Yosaku staying in the men's room as well, until only Nami is left. Her short hair is ruffled by a breeze. She doesn't know how long she can keep pretending to be a loyal crewmember. Eventually, her cruel reality will catch up with her and she has the suspicion it will be sooner than later. Glaring at the damn sky she internally seethes. Why does she have to be the one betraying Luffy?! Why is she the one with a whole village's fate on her shoulders?!

Nami knows the answers to those questions too well. It's because life is heartless and some fishmen like Arlong abuse the East's weakness to its brims. She just... she's tired. She's tired of dealing with all the consequences. She's tired of thieving from those who readily accept her into their midst. She's had enough of it all.

Suddenly, Nami remembers the scene in Syrup Village. Would it be possible for Luffy and the Marines to defeat Arlong's fishmen troops? She would have said no before she saw how Luffy fights. He's too strong for East Blue standards and his will seems unbreakable. Zoro, when not drunk or asleep, is incredibly skilled with his swords – he could be possibly stronger than Hatchan. Usopp is about as strong as herself but his aim is incredible. Nami almost hadn't believed her eyes when the gangly teenager had easily destroyed Jango's weapon.

If they really can get Sanji to join? That would be the ultimate win considering his proficient kick technique.

Luffy's gentle inquiring haunts her. Goddamn it – Yes! She will tell him. She doesn't want to lose the first true friends she's ever had. Nami will give him the option of just letting her go with all the treasure they had obtained back at Orange. It will be enough to buy her village... but will it be enough for Arlong? Would he really let her go after she'd proven her skills over and over again?

Her inner realist doesn't trust the deal, never has and probably never will until she sees Arlong leaving her people alone once and for all with her own eyes.

She can't wait longer than two days at most with her having been absent from Cocoyashi for longer than usual already. Nami breathes in deeply. She has to brace herself because tomorrow she will share the dark secrets she has hidden away since she was eight years old.

Nami walks to her room without a sound.

She's used to not making sounds.

The morning has Sanji smoking his first cigarette an hour earlier than he normally does. Something about that crew from yesterday doesn't let him go and, weirdly enough, it's not only the orange-haired beauty. So he does what he likes to do when he is troubled – cooking for too many people.

And, coincidentally, those Marine Pirates seem to be hungry. Oh, another coincidence it is that Sanji has made enough food to even stuff that straw hat captain's greedy mouth.

Who is he kidding here? Obviously, he's grown fond of them. Of course he wants them to have a healthy breakfast before they will probably leave him when he yet again declines the offer of recruitment. Sanji has to live with that. It's his weight to carry and he will gladly continue doing so until the old geezer passes away with as much peacefulness as an experienced pirate legend like Zeff can expect.

He cradles the giant plate of pancakes, fresh fruit and yoghurt to the ship with the hilariously small straw hat skull on its sails. The first time Sanji had seen it he had mistaken it for a mustard stain.

"Yo!" the grinning Marine captain greets him from the figure head. Sanji motions towards the breakfast which Luffy grabs with oddly elongated limbs. "Come and eat with us!" he shouts.  
What a sap he is for having packed a share for himself as well, the blond cook thinks smirking.

Luffy gently wakes up his nakama and they trot sleepily to the table where the incredibly smelling food awaits them.

"Not gonna be our cook, huh?" Zoro asks mockingly.

"I have to disappoint you, marimo, but yeah, that's going to be the case." Sanji retorts.

"Ayrfs!" comes from Luffy. Nobody needs to understand it to know it means "I refuse."

The cook sighs. "I've got work to do" he says, "so just bring me the dishes when you're done."

The day proceeds slowly for Sanji. He didn't know how boring Patty's endless rambling about some pirates he's beaten up could be compared to the lively conversations he's lead with the members of the Marine Pirates. Sometimes, when the older man doesn't lookl, he rolls his eyes at the uncreative descriptions. Usopp would have had a full on story made out of the same material and he'd have actually coloured it interestingly with fancy words.

Perhaps it's just his lack of friends who're around the same age as he is. Here in the Baratie are good men with a nice work ethic and strong arms. But they aren't really witty or can relate to him in any way. It's awkward telling them stories or jokes. Outside of the kitchen, they wouldn't last a day as the close-knit unit they are in the restaurant. And isn't that kind of sad?

Zeff is like a father to him but the others are at best some uncles he just sees once a year at a family dinner – it feels like that even though they spend up to sixteen hours a day together cooking.

Sanji prepares dishes until midday when he takes up the apron to serve as a waiter. The staff's short on some men and everybody just wants to cook so it most often falls to him to play waiter during the rush hours.

For the first hour and a half, nothing really happens. About an hour in, the Marines come with Johnny and Yosaku. Nami-swan looks a bit white, the poor dear, and Luffy seems to notice that as well. Nonetheless, apart from some words of comfort Sanji can't offer them more than today's lunch menu which they gladly take.

Then the man comes in.

He is huge, a beast of a man, and his broad chest is covered in golden armour. However, one can see he has clearly been deprived of food as his cheeks are unbelievably sunken in. Supported by none other than Gin, the man can be nobody else than the infamous Don Krieg.

Movement stills in the busy restaurant.

"Help! My captain... My captain needs food! He hasn't eaten in weeks..." Gin pleads. He averts his eyes as soon as the laughter starts. No wonder everybody thought the idea to help a vicious criminal like Krieg pretty ridiculous.

"P-Please... I can pay!" Krieg's weak voice echoes through the dining hall, causing the cooks who have followed their head chef outside to break out in maniacal laughter yet again.

The Marines watch the display curiously. For the entirety of the spectacle, Luffy hasn't averted his gaze from his future cook. He finds it interesting what he sees. Instead of laughing with his co-workers he sneaks past them without anyone taking note of his absence. He heads towards the kitchen. _"Nobody should go hungry. Absolutely nobody."_  
A grim grin sets on his mouth. Zoro raises his eyebrows because between gulps of his beer he has seen the swirly cook disappear behind the swinging bull-eyed doors leading to his territory. The others are focused on Don Krieg being threatened by the self-declared fighting cooks of the Baratie.

Roughly five minutes later, Sanji resurfaces with a big meal for the Don. Never minding the other cooks, he sets it down under repeated thanks by Gin.

Luffy sees it before anybody else. The intent is clear and nobody, emphasized on _nobody_ , hurts his cook when he's not even in a battle.  
Don Krieg makes himself ready to strike like a venomous snake hunting for its prey. His punch is millimetres away from connecting with the cook's face but then it's... blocked.  
As if the hushed murmurs weren't silent enough, a deafening stillness coats the Baratie when it becomes clear that a young man has stopped an unpredictable strike. Luffy glares down at Don Krieg, every bit of cheerfulness washed away by a menacing aura.

Sanji's cigarette falls out of his mouth. No-one blames him, though, because the sight of Don Krieg of all people cowering pathetically with outstretched arm in front of someone half his age is as priceless as it is incredible.

"Who are you, boy?!" the fleet captain spits out through gritted teeth.

"Monkey D. Luffy. Captain of the Marine Pirates." Luffy answers coldly. His tone sends shivers down Nami's spine. This... this is Luffy's true strength. She isn't afraid of him, no, she is merely stunned. As is practically the rest of the restaurant.

"Are you asking to be killed, Monkey D. Luffy?" Don Krieg asks with slits as eyes, "I have a hundred men to feed and this restaurant to take over. If you surrender, you can spare your life and work for me – the mighty Don Krieg. What do you say?"

It seems as if the brat has the audacity to ignore Krieg as the straw hat wearer turns to Zeff whose expression is pretty neutral for someone whose restaurant is under attack.

"Oi, old man! You wanna feed the people outside, right?" Luffy asks.

Despite the disagreeing comments made by the rest of the Baratie's staff, Zeff smirks and says: "Damn right, brat. Ye can do whatever ye want with him here. He's fed. But I'll make 'em pirates something to get between their teeth. That's what cooks are for."

Luffy nods, clutching Don Krieg's fist tighter until the man has to suppress a pained groan. "You demand for food and don't even say thanks when you get it." he begins.

Gin makes a questioning noise as his captain is occupied with not giving in to the urge to plead for his hand to be freed.

"You wanna take over the same restaurant which helped you survive." Luffy continues icily.

"And worst of all?" he concludes, pressing the man's hand so tight that the armour on it not only dents but cracks, "You nearly hurt and backstabbed _my cook_!"  
Sanji still kneels behind Luffy. He wants to refuse the Marine captain titling him as such. He really wants to. The only problem is that he wouldn't believe himself if he did. The blond cook fishes out his pack of cigarettes and lights one. "Thanks for helping me," he says slightly smiling, cig between his lips, "captain."

"Shishishi, see Nami? I told you I'd make him join with Plan A!"

The orange haired woman sweat-drops. "You ruined a completely badass moment." she chuckles.

Luffy shrugs his shoulders. "I don't need to be badass to be badass." he states. Nobody denies.

"Oi, Zoro, Usopp, Nami! Pack your things – Zeff's making food for Krieg's crew. If they're up to a fight and wanna capture the ship, beat them! I'm gonna take care of him here." Luffy points innocently at Don Krieg. The Marines make themselves ready for the battle and Johnny as well as Yosaku join them readily.

"Tsk, foolish boy!" Don Krieg grits out, "Do you honestly think you can beat me?"

"I could kill you instantly if I wanted to." Luffy gives him a D-worthy smile which is indeed quite terrifying when used with such words. Gin looks forlorn at his captain and then at the one he thought was a madman. No, he thinks, that man isn't mad. He's Grandline material. Monkey D. Luffy is made to sail the pirates' grave just like the one who cut their whole ship in half.

"Don, maybe we should –"

"SHUT UP, IDIOT!" With his free hand, Krieg punches Gin harshly, "I DON'T TAKE ORDERS FROM A NOBODY LIKE YOU!"

"D-Don..." Blood spills out of the Man-Demon's mouth. Without another word, Luffy wanders out of the door with Don Krieg trailing behind him like a dog. He can't do anything else as his hand is held by the brat.

They arrive on the outside deck. Johnny and Yosaku are conscious enough to hide the Going Merry on the other end of the restaurant in case the ship gets in the way.

"Let go of me, boy! This instant!" Krieg cries, spittle flying everywhere.

Luffy stays silent for a moment. Then he asks quietly: "Do you know what a good captain is supposed to be?"  
"What are talking about, you little monster?!"

"I asked... Do you know what a good captain is supposed to be?" Luffy demands again, more forceful this time. He stands with his back to Don Krieg but his vice grip on the fleet captain's appendage doesn't cease. It becomes even tighter and Krieg has thought that to be impossible. The first bones begin breaking under the immense pressure.

Letting out a hurt yell, the older man finally answers: "No! Fuck, no, I don't know what you're talking about!" he shouts out hurriedly and sighs in relief when Luffy's grip becomes a tad bit lighter.

"A captain is supposed to be an anchor. A good captain never turns a blind eye towards their crewmembers' sorrows. A good captain is just like the keel of a ship – he supports and strengthens his crew. When he dies, when the keel breaks, everything slowly or quickly falls apart."

"What the fuck are you saying, idiot?! NOW LET GO OF MY FUCKING _AAAAH!"_ Every bone in Don Krieg's hand is crushed instantly. It's as if there isn't a barrier between Luffy's destroying fingers and Krieg's bones. It's as if Luffy has played with him the whole time – as if the brat is the hunter and he's the prey.

Dry as the desert is the voice that comes out of Luffy's mouth: "You don't understand what I'm saying and still call me the idiot? Well, I guess somebody like you would never get it. In a way, I pity you."

"Dumb brat! I will..."

"You will do nothing." Luffy says, turning finally towards his enemy, "Gum gum..." his eyes glint dangerously as he stretches his arm backwards and lets it blacken, "black hawk."

" _Black hawk"_ the Marines hear. It is not shouted enthusiastically. It doesn't need to be. The strength behind those words is clear as soon as Luffy's attack collides with Krieg's chest armour. A shock wave carries the man away but it's easy to spot what damage comes with it – his rib area is completely burst open and dented inside. With luck, Don Krieg will be able to live.

Gin holds his bleeding mouth. His knees give in when he witnesses how his captain is utterly beaten – with a single punch... He crawls to Krieg slowly because he wants to avert his eyes from the sight for as long as he can. The vomit inducing view is something Gin would never forget. That man who called himself a captain of one of the strongest fleets out there... that man lies now _broken_ at his feet.

He doesn't dare to move, even as the sounds of fighting reach his ears. The Marine Pirates aren't human, he's sure of it. They are the true demons. He doesn't even need to try. He knows he's not strong enough to beat any of them. Gin hears footsteps behind him. His shoulders begin shaking in fear of what will happen to him when they arrive at his destination.

"Ah, shit." The biggest devil of them all says, "I overdid it again. What the hell is up with East Blue pirates?"

Gin's skin is covered in goose bumps and he feels his heart beating faster. Now that he has seen what this boy, this _man_ , is capable of he can't look him in the eyes.

Luffy kneels beside him, thus also facing what he has done, and to Gin's surprise, he starts to tend to Don Krieg's gashing wound. "Help me. He's going to die if we don't do anything." the young captain requests of him. Taking orders is one of Gin's strengths so he doesn't question Luffy's words and instead aids him in patching up Krieg.

Curiosity nevertheless seeps into the Man-Demon's thoughts – the question comes out before he can stop it: "Why are you letting him live?"

Luffy doesn't flinch, Gin believes he has expected the demand, and answers truthfully: "I don't like cutting off somebody's life. He's an asshole and a shitty captain in my opinion but he's still only human. Maybe I will kill someone in the future but today's not the day when that happens."

Gin swallows harshly and doesn't say anything after the revelation.

At the same time, the battle begins around them. Not many of the Krieg Pirates step up up to fight after they have seen their captain's defeat but those who do storm in without a second thought. Zoro is on the brink of slashing an opponent when he sees _him_ moving towards the restaurant.

Some of Krieg's men still and pathetically whimper in fear. "T-That's the bastard who cut our ship in half! It's him!" one shouts scared shitless.  
Zoro growls when another one adds: "His eyes... his eyes!" as if going more and more insane with the swordsman nearing. It has to be _him_ \- Dracule Mihawk, Shichibukai and proclaimed best swordsman in the world. A feral grin moves up the corners of his mouth. He will finally be able to verse Mihawk in a swordfight.

"UGH!" somebody collapses with a cry right behind him.

"Be more careful, idiot!" Nami yells at the Marine's first mate, swinging her bo staff to get rid of the enemies in her immediate range, "What the hell are you looking at?!"

She directs her eyes at the coffin-like boat which is a couple of metres away from the fallen wreckage of Krieg's ship. Suddenly, the remains of said vessel are split cleanly in half. Her eyes widen.  
"Who the fuck is that? Did he just...?!"

"Tche" Zoro smirks, "Yes, he cut it. That's Dracule Mihawk. He's the best swordsman around the globe."

"WHAT?! What is someone like him doing in East Blue?! Are you sure it's him?"

"There's no doubt" he catches a glimpse of the beautifully crafted sword called Yoru, "It's definitely him."  
Chaos ensues as soon as Krieg's crewmembers hear Zoro's confirmation – the ones who could count as cannon fodder mostly drop down in fear, stopping entirely in their tracks. Usopp sighs in relief because keeping them at distance has proven pretty hard on the flat surface of the Baratie's wooden path. Sanji, who has followed them outside after he was done preparing food with his chef, raises an eyebrow at the shielded man he's about to beat. Pearl, he recalls the man's name, shivers uncontrollably when he spots the Shichibukai. To Sanji's astonishment, he doesn't declare defeat but hammers the two pearlescent shields on his hands against one another, frantically rasping out: "DANGER! DANGER! DANGER AHEAD!" – and then he catches on fire.

"Goddamn, what the -?!" the blond cook curses. He has to dropkick that mentally challenged giant crybaby into the sea before he lights up the whole restaurant. Sanji runs up to his opponent but the kick he aims at the biggest shielt sends jolts of pain up his foot. Nothing happens apart from that and the floorboards are being singed and sizzle dangerously. That freak has hidden himself in his weird ass armour so there aren't any weak spots exposed.

Clenching his teeth, Sanji doesn't give up, shoves aside the harm he's doing to his body, and focuses on giving that piece of shit the kick course of his life. Kick after kick lands, slowly cracking the shell. Kick number twenty-three not only strains his leg to its breaking point but sends the firecracker into the deep ocean. Pearl doesn't emerge again but that's out of the cook's mind as he is keen on putting out the small fire left by his opponent.

Afterwards, he finally throws out the spit soaked cigarette he's bitten on in concentration and sinks down with his back resting against the Baratie. He lights another cig, inhaling deeply. Sanji snorts to himself. What kind of crazy mess is he getting catapulted into?

"Hoi, Sanji!" Luffy sits down next to his cook, "You fought as well?"

"Yep. And you? Did you –"

The straw hat wearer points at two figures, one sitting and another lying still on the back.

"Is he dead?" Sanji asks, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

"No. He's asleep." Luffy sighs in annoyance, "I'm too strong! He nearly died from a single attack that was meant to only destroy his armour and damage him a bit."

Sanji looks at him funnily. "You're the only one who'd complain about being too strong. I had a hard time with the guy I beat. Just look at this shit." He rolls up his pant leg to reveal ugly bruising and swollen flesh. Luffy draws in a breath. "Holy hell. Are you going to be alright? I mean, we can wait until you're patched up before we leave."

"I'm going to be okay. I'm used to that" the cook states, leaving out that it's never been this bad, "We're going to have stronger enemies in the future, right?"

"Probably." Luffy says, digging in his nose.

"Oi!" Sanji's focus drifts towards Zoro talking to a stranger who has a gigantic sword strapped to his back, "What the fuck is marimo brain doing?"

"He's challenging the best swordsman."

"Wait, what?" the blond stares open-mouthed at the display in front of him. Mosshead challenging _the_ best swordsman? "Is that moron suicidal?!"

Luffy chuckles: "Shishishi, yeah."

"How can you be so calm about that?" Sanji is rather shocked. Sure – he's heard of Roronoa Zoro before with him being pretty known in East Blue but the even more famous Shichibukai Dracule Mihawk is feared for his superior and undefeated sword style. It's impossible for Zoro to come out alive from this battle.

"I don't feel any killing intent. I know this may seem a bit harsh but Zoro has to experience that he is farther away from his dream than he thinks. He has potential but he has to keep in mind that he isn't the only good swordsman out there."

"His dream?" Sanji asks, raising his visible eyebrow in wonder. Marimo has a dream as well?

"He wants to be the best swordsman alive." Luffy replies, watching Dracule Mihawk hurt Zoro's pride by taking out a small dagger instead of using his actual sword, "Anyways... if I feel even a tiny bit of actual danger" the Marine captain's eyes are cast in a shadow because of his straw hat, "I will step in. Even if Zoro's going to be mad at me for it."

Zoro eyes the man in front of him warily. What is Hawkeyes going to do with that tiny ass blade? The duel begins. It's established fast, too fast for Zoro's liking, why Mihawk is considered the best. Hawkeyes moved fast and if the Marine pirate hadn't trained shave, he would have entirely missed half of his actions. Thankfully, his speed has rapidly increased in the last fortnight. He blocks the dagger with his right hand sword and tries to strike with left but Mihawk has none of it.

The Shichibukai swirls around, ducking at the same time. It's as if he knows how to not give Zoro a single opening for Oni Giri because just as he is about to use the technique, Hawkeyes increases his velocity to the fullest. All of a sudden, the green haired swordsman hasn't even truly registered it, Zoro is on the ground and neck _hurts_.

Vaguely, he is reminded of Kuina beating him easily, every time too easily.

Zoro stands up again, readily in pose for an even stronger attack than Oni Giri. "Tora... Gari!"  
Mihawk's dagger would have pierced through his chest had he not shaved to the right. It misses him by mere centimetres.

"Huh... to see somebody from East Blue using something like that. Your captain must be proud of you." Mihawk muses.

"How do you know I have a captain?" Zoro asks frowning. Luffy had been treating Krieg's wound and he himself hadn't revealed his pirate colours.

Hawkeyes actually smirks at that. "He's been glaring at me with the Conqueror's Spirit. I doubt it is a coincidence you are able to use rokushiki. Two Grandline skills – I am impressed."

Then, as if to say "It's still nothing" Mihawk increases his velocity and Zoro now can barely see him at all. Not even a blur is taken up by his eyes. In an attempt to block from where he muses the Shichibukai will strike, he holds up his swords in a triangle. Luckily, he's right, however, what he isn't prepared for is Yoru's blade clashing the ones he's holding in his hands. When has Mihawk drawn it? It went too quickly to notice the switch.

"Good, boy. But there is something you should know." Hawkeyes says at the same time Zoro feels a painful stab in his abdomen, "I'm a Nitoryu user."

He has to refrain from falling over. It happens so quickly, so smooth. The Marine Pirate gurgles in anguish when the dagger is withdrawn from his body. "That's... good to know." His breathing is laboured.

"Why don't you retreat now, boy? You've clearly been defeated. Look at you. You're barely standing."

"Why?" Zoro says, clutching Wado Ichimonji harder between his teeth, "Because I'd rather die than to give up."

For a moment, Mihawk seems genuinely stunned by Zoro's confession. "Kid, state your name." he orders.

"Roronoa Zoro" the green haired swordsman answers, staggering back but nonetheless resuming a stance for yet another technique. Maybe he hears Johnny and Yosaku yelling his name. Maybe he feels Luffy's gaze on him. He refuses to notice anything outside of this battle.

"I'll remember it. It has been quite some time since somebody has deemed worthy enough to fight against Yoru. Thus, I will also end the duel with it."

Grinning feral, Zoro grits out: "I appreciate it."

The duel has ended. Without Zoro truly realising it before he feels the splinters hitting his face, two of his trusted swords shatter and yet another pain makes itself known on his chest.  
"I lost..." he thinks as he kneels on the ground, "I never imagined I'd ever lose." With that, he sheathes Wado Ichimonji, turns around and stretches out his arms in defeat.

"What are you...?"

If Zoro's maniacal smirk is anything to go by, he has lost his marbles. "Scars on the back are a swordsman's shame."

"Admirable." Hawkeyes states calmly but instead of slicing Zoro's chest, he sheathes his sword as well. "Admirable indeed, Roronoa. Though, it's not time yet for this."

"What?"

"This was merely a duel, not the ultimate fight between who's the best. That one, Roronoa, has to wait until you enter the New World. Or else I'd make your captain mad and nobody wants to stir a sleeping monster such as him."

Zoro watches in awe as Mihawk retreats to his boat, albeit not without shouting: "Surpass me, Roronoa!"  
He'd like to think he would have survived the last strike but Luffy wouldn't have indirectly stopped it if it didn't mean his death. He hadn't stopped the dagger, after all.  
It's immensely humbling indeed to be spared.

Sighing, he looks at the state of the battle.

Whoever hadn't given up has been beaten by Nami, Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku.

What an anticlimactic ending.

"Oi, cook! You're gonna cook us something? I'm starving." Zoro shouts when he makes out Sanji's form sitting with Luffy.  
And that's how they eat lunch for free... not that they would have had to pay anything if they hadn't annihilated Krieg's crew. Apropos Krieg's crew...

"Ye wanna stay as staff?" Zeff scratches his chin, looking at ten former members of said pirate's crew, "Ah, to hell with it. Why not?" – and that's how the old geezer solves his employee problem.

Now, there's only one thing left to address.

"Yer going with them?" Zeff asks, motioning at the Marine Pirates.

Sanji's cheeks heat up. "Yeah, I mean only if you really have nothing against it. I can stay – that's no problem. I... –"

"Shush, little eggplant. Ye don't owe me anything. Or better, if yer owe me something it's finding All Blue. Go and pursue our dreams, yeah?" Zeff says, warmly smiling like a proud father.

To which Sanji cries: "S-Shut up, old geezer!"

But when it's time to set sail again, he bows down in gratitude and sheds a tear or two. Zeff and the other cooks as well.

After they all board the Going Merry, Nami steps up to her captain. It's time. "We need to talk." she says seriously.

* * *

A/N: I'll read through this once again later on when I'm actually not having the insomnia of my life.


	4. East Blue IV

**East Blue! IV**

* * *

 **Arlong and Nami**

* * *

Tears slowly drop onto the wooden floor and Nami bites back the sobs that are threatening to course through her tired body.

Luffy has to swallow. From what he's heard, the situation is dire and Arlong has a tight grip on Conomi Island. He thinks back to Dawn Island and all the people he's grown to love who are living there in peace, far away from the bustling great city islands young adults prefer to migrate to.

He exhales deeply, removing the infamous hat from his head to put it on his navigator's. "Everything will be alright. We'll sail to your island, see if that fish bastard is gonna leave when you give him the money and if he doesn't..." at that, he grins broadly – dangerously really, "I'm gonna beat him up!" Luffy holds the anger at Arlong back... it wouldn't do any good right now, not when they are still quite a bit away from Conomi Island.

"Do you really want to help me? Arlong and his men are ten times stronger than normal humans and I don't know if..."

"Nami" Luffy's firm voice echoes through the kitchen. The orange haired woman looks up to him. His next words make her want to cry even harder: "We're nakama. I don't care about Arlong's strength. I don't care if I get beaten up. I just wanna help you. Everybody will help you, not just me."

"Yeah, we're gonna help you."

"WAH!" Nami nearly tumbles over. Angrily, she faces Zoro who innocently raids the cupboards for booze. Has he been here the whole time? What the hell?

"Zoro came in about two minutes ago." Luffy explains.

"But we're definitely going to help you." Usopp suddenly says right next to Nami. Shrieking, she finally falls over. "WHAT THE HELL?! Is Sanji hiding somewhere too?!"

All eyes lie on the blond cook who casually decorates a cake. "...huh?" he asks, "Of course I'm in the kitchen, Nami-swan. I'm your cook after all."

"Bu-But you weren't here when Luffy and I came in!" She says utterly confused. Looking back and forth between her fellow crewmates, she notices their equally puzzled expressions. Nami gestures wildly with her arms before she gives up and sighs in defeat.

Usopp pats her on the shoulder. "Going insane too?" he asks as if it's the most natural thing to occur. It probably is on this forsaken ship, the orange haired woman muses silently. Her mood shifts again to seriousness. "You actually want to help me, guys?" Her voice is weak.

"Sure!" Luffy states without hesitation.

"Everything for you, Nami-swan!" Sanji cries with hearty eyes.

"Yeah, whatever." Zoro shrugs.

"Of course the brave Captain Usopp will help you beat those gruesome and terroristic fishmen! I, the Great Captain Usopp, always have my trusty companionable slingshot at my side to fight against the distasteful and worrisome enemies of my crewmates! I have battled fishmen before, you know? Many fishmen have cowered in fear already when they saw that the Great Captain Usopp came to destroy their -?" The sniper suddenly notices the lack of his nakama and his demeanour deflates just as quickly as Fullbody's.

"Goddamn it." He mutters, taking a slice of the cake Sanji's prepared and munches on it disgruntled. Then he walks outside where everybody else is innocently sitting.

"That!" Usopp says, pointing behind him, "Was unnecessary."

"Just like your exaggerated story?" Nami asks, fluttering her eyelashes while tilting her head.

"..."

"Anyways, guys!" Luffy intervenes, "I have to teach you something. It's important." He looks pointedly at Johnny and Yosaku who both begin to pout but leave them be eventually after a bit of persuasion on Sanji's side – namely, chocolate parfaits.

"Yosh! So... Nami, Usopp and Zoro, you remember when I called the nice marine lady, right?"

They nod in unison apart from Sanji who seems quite lost. Well, his eyes flash at the "nice marine lady" bit but otherwise he has no idea what they're talking about. Luffy explains the situation for him, though. He continues by elaborating: "Well, that number I used, 2-2-5-8-8-6-5-7, is called my Identification Number. I don't think we're going to have any new members soon so I'll give yours to you right now just in case."

Zoro's eyes widen slightly. "We're going to have our own numbers? How the hell does that work? You aren't a real marine, are you?"

"I have to agree with mossbrain over there." Sanji says, inhaling smoke.

"Oi, shitty cook –"

"No, I'm not." Luffy cuts the incoming stream of cuss words off before it starts, "Or, well, I shouldn't be. But my gramps has established that my crew is under his custody by giving me this number. I should probably explain it. You see, the first three digits, 2-2-5, are saying that my immediate vice admiral is gramps. Then he somehow managed to make it as though I'm registered in Marineford. Dunno why he did that but that's what the 8-8 is for. Location number. So far so good?"

They make noises of agreement.

"Good. The six after that just means that I'm the captain of this team. And the 5-7 is the number of this crew. That's basically it. You obviously need to have your own version of it as well because we can't blow this cover until we're at least halfway through the first half of the Grandline." Luffy's eyes are distant. He shudders, thinking about Garp and his Fist of Love. He just can't risk the safety of his crew by having a vice admiral haunting them.

The straw hat wearer focuses on the matter again. Luffy looks at Zoro firstly and states: "Your number is 2-2-5-8-8-3-5-7. It's nearly the same as mine but with a three instead of a six. Just means that you're my vice captain." Zoro confirms when he has saved it in his head.

"Yosh. Everybody else has the number 2-2-5-8-8-1-5-7. A "one" for potential leadership. If anyone asks which ranks you have – Zoro is an Ensign and the rest of you are all normal crewmembers. I'm just a captain so it's alright if I have a bunch of no-rank nakama."

"Okay, that sounds a tiny bit harsh." Usopp murmurs.

Luffy ignores him as does practically everybody else at the moment. "That's it. We're going to anchor somewhere where our ship is concealed and then...?" He gives the word to his navigator who blinks a couple of times because she isn't used to making plans for more than one person. Nonetheless, a wave of determination flashes over her face.

"That's right. We're going to anchor at the bay of an abandoned village called Goza. From then on I'll go to Arlong and confirm that I'm back. He's quite excessive in partying so it's probably going to take a while until I can return home and grab the money I've hidden there. You'll wait at my house with my sister Nojiko. I'll tell you where it is when we arrive at Conomi Island. As soon as I have the cash, you're going to stealthily follow me to Arlong Park and if Arlong doesn't leave after I give him the bribe, Luffy will beat him up and the rest of you, including myself, will have to face his crewmates."

Luffy's quite impressed with his nakama's planning skills. He grins brightly and says: "Understood... now that that's out of the way – Sanji, I'm huuuungryyyy."

"What the fuck, shitty captain?! You ate like twelve eggs and fifteen strips of bacon for breakfast!" the cook yells annoyed but he is automatically walking towards the kitchen to prepare food. Talk about fucked up instincts.

They eat lunch without Johnny and Yosaku and to be honest, the Marine Pirates kind of forget about them. Which is a mistake, admittedly, because those bounty hunters are idiotic at best and utterly destructive at worst. But as Luffy cleans up his third plate, with Usopp telling a story which makes Nami accidentally choke on water, Zoro drinking himself silly and Sanji going at the sniper's throat because he made Nami "suffer", they just... forget about their existence.

Johnny and Yosaku are high the next time Zoro sees them.

The swordsman rubs his nose bridge, closes his eyes, breathes calmly in and out before opening them again. Yeah, no. Nothing has changed about the scenery. Johnny is naked, hugging the main mast and Yosaku dances around him, most often swaying drunkenly to the left and giggling like a school girl.

"What the fuck."

Johnny smiles, his sunglasses askew so that red blotched eyes are revealed. "Zoooorooo... Aaaaaniki! We smoked some weird orange tree leaves. They were!" he slurs slowly.

"They were _what_?" Zoro grumbles amused.

Yosaku answers: "Craaaazyyy! They were craaaaaazyyyy."

"Oh hey Zoro... oh hey guys. What are ya doing?" Luffy curiously asks from the swordsman's side. The green haired man shrugs as he can't actually comprehend the thought process needed to light up some plant that's not at all suited for this purpose.

"Shishishi, it looks like fun. Can I do that too?"

"Nope" the first mate says, popping the "P", "Absolutely not. Maybe they're dying for all we know. Come on, let's... wait far, _**far**_ away from them until we arrive." And with that, Zoro takes Luffy by the scruff of his coat and drags the confused captain into the kitchen again where Nami, Usopp and Sanji are playing Poker.

"Oh, I thought you wanted to train?" Usopp asks Zoro curiously.

"Well... that was before I saw Johnny and Yosaku high on orange tree leaves."

"What?"

"What?!"

"...What."

With a sigh as heavy as lead Zoro sits down at the table. "Don't ask me." he says, "They always do this kind of shit. Why do you think I parted ways with them? Don't misunderstand me – I love them, they're like my brothers but they are..." He struggles to find the right words. To his luck, he has three nakama who gladly help him.

"Dumb?" Sanji asks, continued by: "weird as fuck?" as suggested by Usopp and ended with a: "simply not suited for the outside world?" by Nami. Of course they are all right. So the swordsman just answers: "Yes."

Contrary to them, Luffy bites his bottom lip and frowns. "I don't know why you're bashing them so much. They're fun!"

Suddenly, a deeply resonating crush can be heard from the deck. The Marine Pirates hurry outside. Johnny and Yosaku have achieved the impossible – they have punched a _hole_ through the thick wooden mast.

"Okay, I see what you mean." Luffy utters dead-panned.

"MEEEEERRYYYY?! WHAT DID YOU DOOOO TO HER?!" Usopp screeches, becoming a vulture in the process, and attacks the two madmen who do not seem to notice the long-nosed teen's attempt at murder.

Nobody actually interferes and, thus, the rest of their travel to Conomi Island is spent observing the spectacle between two high off their asses bounty hunters and a sniper out for vengeance unfold. Bets are made and Luffy wins five thousand beri because he bet Usopp would try and throw them into the sea _six times in a row_. About half an hour before they dock, Luffy picks up the cylinder-shaped piece of wood that was... eh... "punched out" by either Johnny or Yosaku and quietly rams it back into the hole where it came from. It would do no good if the mast were truly falling onto their heads before they even traversed Reverse Mountain.

The port is watched by two fishmen who angrily glare at their ship until they spot Nami. Then, as if a switch is turned, they relax and grin almost a bit cheeky. No wonder – in the past, Nami has led many men into Arlong's grasp, causing their demise as even the weakest officers of the fishman's crew have enough strength to beat those poor East Bluean bastards.

"Ah, Nami! You came back with... _guests_?" one of them asks. His skin is tinted green and Zoro can hear Sanji whisper: "Look, isn't that your long-lost cousin?" to the swordsman. Luckily, Roronoa Zoro can be sensitive in certain situations and refrains from showing his opinion about that statement.

"Yep. Those are some Marines I came across. Just wanted to show them my hometown." the orangette answers readily.

"Marines? Them?!" the second fishman huffs and regards Luffy and the rest of the Marine Pirates distastefully, "Do that. Show them Cocoyashi for all I care." It's blatantly obvious how lowly the two fishmen think of them. As if they were easily breakable when desired. Most normal people probably would be, Nami knows they usually are, but Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Sanji are definitely _not_ normal. Hell, ever since she's met them, she doesn't think of herself as normal anymore... which, considering the circumstances, is for the best.

"Oh, yes, I _will_ show them _everything_ on _our_ lovely island, not just Cocoyashi." Nami winks at the half humans and throws in a dark and condescending grin directed at her friends for good measurement. The fish heads return the mimic. Nami seriously should think about becoming an actress, honestly.

The Marine Pirates and the two still high as fuck bounty hunters (who stare in awe at the fishmen as if they are wax figures instead of cruel pirates who could fuck them up in under a minute) follow their navigator wordlessly. Well, Zoro drifts off once before it's decided that he has to hold hands with Luffy as to not get lost.

"Why is Zoro's head all red?" the captain whispers to Sanji who looks entirely too smug.

"Maybe the mosshead has a crush on you."

"I do not." the swordsman murmurs, "I... I just... I didn't have time for dating and... fucking hell, can't you just let go of my hand?!"

Straw Hat blinks curiously. "A crush, huh? Isn't that when somebody _really likes_ somebody else and then the whole seduction thing comes into play?" he asks the cook, not paying any mind to Zoro's plea.

"Yes, my student. Exactly that." Sanji nods wisely, scratching his chin in an exuberant "Old Perverted Sensei" manner.

"Does Zoro really have a crush on me?" Luffy asks the already annoyed-beyond-anything first mate.

Zoro facepalms with the hand that's not occupied being crushed by Luffy's strong grip and lets out a "No." which sounds as if he's seconds away from dying. The cause of his death is either embarrassment or exasperation but, at this point of time, it could be both.

"Huh?!" Luffy gasps, "Why don't you? Don't you think I'm pretty?"

A strangled noise explains that Zoro just died. Yes, Zoro is dead. "I'm officially dead." he thinks, clearly dead. The dead man trips over a stone because his sight is obscured by his facepalming action. He crashes into Nami's back, nearly sending her down as well. Luckily, they have passed every fishman officer stationed at the bay.

"Idiots! Luffy, quit trolling around. Sanji, stop giving him ideas and Zoro..." Nami glares at the green haired man who stands up from the ground and still has a tomato coloured face, "stop being such a virgin!"

Zoro wants to protest but one hit by Nami's "Fist of I Can't Believe You Are Called A Demon, You Blushing Mess" silences him.

They walk through Goza, abandoned by the villagers who survived Arlong's raid. Nami remembers when it used to be bustling with life, children playing in the streets and friendly adults greeting her even though they knew about her affiliations with Arlong's crew. They are wary now and cower in fear when they spot her. She hopes it won't be like that any longer when she frees them of the pirates and corrupt marines inhabiting Conomi.

About a hundred metres away from a large building she halts in her tracks. "Well, guys. We're going to part ways right here. Just follow the street and you should come to a house with tangerine trees in the backyard. Mention that you're my friends and Nojiko or Genzo will let you in. Alright, see you!"

"Bye, Nami-swaaaaan!" Sanji dances more than he says it.

The rest of them bid their farewell to the navigator as well, albeit less extravagantly, and with that done, they head off to Nami's home.

The woman watches them depart, Zoro's, Luffy's, Usopp's and Sanji's backs facing her. She can't help but feel as if she has forgotten something. Oh, well, for now it can't be as important as her mission. She rubs her tattoo, draws in a deep breath, and walks towards the entrance of Arlong Park.

A big iron fence with a fancy engraving towers her soon. She has never understood why a pirate would want to live like royalty because, for her, piracy has always meant freedom on the sea and not being bunked up on a poor island. Arlong isn't like most pirates, she guesses, seeing as the man is oftentimes too irrational to properly lead his crew. Long nights of alcohol consummation, an ingrained sense of greed and a racist ideology, which can apparently be bent at any given time, are what Nami associates with the saw shark fishman... when she's being generous.

When she isn't, then she would describe him as an insufferable asshole with narcissistic tendencies that isn't even charming enough that anybody should feel the need to follow him. Also, he seems to like her and this, in itself, is really disturbing.

After a last mental encouragement, Nami opens the gate. She hears loud music coming from the inside of the large building. Of course. Like she has assumed, Arlong is having a party... again... before she has even officially returned. He does that all the time – throwing parties for the weirdest reasons – and everybody knows it's only an excuse to drink alcohol. That man has a problem. He's worse than Zoro and Zoro is a borderline alcoholic.

"Woah, Nami!" one of the fishmen cries and presses invisible tits on his chest together. His hair is extremely ruffled and Kensuke, so his name, smells like rotten eggs. The woman frowns in response, blatantly dismissing his innuendos (unluckily for the lad, everyone does).

"Nami, you're finally back!" Hatchan smiles genuinely. If there is a single member in this shitty crew who's redeemable, it's him. The navigator lets him lead her towards the main room and can't help the chuckle escaping her mouth at the uncomfortable quiet confession her companion voices: "Arlong's been drinking for five days straight. Thirteen people have passed out already... and we don't even know what we're celebrating."

She grins. "Sounds just like something he'd do."

Hatchan scratches his prickly mane. "It does, doesn't it? Mah, at least he's refrained from torturing the villagers after that one incident yesterday."

"What happened?" Nami asks. A strange foreboding feeling tangles her stomach into knots. What could possibly stop somebody as impulsive and bloodthirsty as Arlong from further inflicting pain onto Conami Island's people?

The octopus averts his eyes in shame. They stop in the middle of the hallway where nobody can overhear them. "I..." he begins, searching for the right words to say to the female pirate, "I really wanted to stop him... but you know how he gets when he hasn't seen blood in half a month. It was... kind of terrifying for all of us. Even Arlong noticed how sickened the others were and he's been waiting for the horror to calm down."

"I repeat" Nami's voice lowers dangerously. Hatchan flinches involuntarily at the cold tone. " _What happened?!_ "

Her opponent swallows. He answers: "Shioyaki found a boy outside of the gates. He's one of the survivors of Goza" at that, Nami draws in a sharp breath, "and he wanted to avenge his father. Arlong was drunk and proposed to the boy that he could kill him if he... if he... severed off one of his arms with Arlong's discarded saw teeth. Naturally, the kid didn't and just stormed at him with a knife in his hand... and then Arlong caught the child... oh god, Nami – it was horrible!"

Hatchan shudders but continues: "He said to this poor _child_ that if _he doesn't do it,_ he _will_. You can imagine what happened afterwards but it was _slow_... three _hours long_."

Nami gasps shocked. She's always known that her "captain" is cruel, unnecessarily so, but that he would torture a child for three hours?! No – Arlong usually kills off adults quickly, makes everybody fear him with his threats and robs them blank of any possessions they have. She has never seen him doing the same with children. They are, as he has stated himself, "future money makers" and are left alone, frightened out of their minds.

She fights back tears. Would she have been able to save the boy? If only she'd been faster... no, she thinks, it doesn't make her guilty of any offense because she didn't know what would occur but she feels utterly shitty nonetheless. And that bastard of a captain?! He's partying like there's no tomorrow, never minding the boy's blood on his hands.

"I don't know if it makes any difference but... he's alive." Hatchan says, throwing Nami out of her thought process.

"He _survived_ that?"

The octopus grins bitterly. "I may or may not have been able to stop the bleeding in time. It's not yet decided whether or not he pulls through. At the moment, he's with your sister. I suppose your home is one of the safer places to hide him. Arlong trusts you enough that he doesn't go there."

Nami slightly gapes at the fishman in disbelief. Seconds of silence later, her hardened gaze warms up a bit. "Thank you." she says, meaning it one hundred percent.

Hatchan nods, flushed at the unusual praise, and they open up the door to the main room where Arlong is sitting, like the king he thinks he is, on a throne. Nami steels herself before she faces the man. It wouldn't do any good if she's angry because of the sheer inhumanity the saw shark fishman has performed.

She sees drunken men everywhere and the whole room is in a state of chaos. Everything reeks of the gone by hours of partying. Arlong himself has a bottle of sake in his hand. He's laughing at some joke one of his underlings tells. All in all, if Hatchan hadn't explained the situation, she wouldn't have noticed the little fearful glances even the most human-hating ones in the crew direct at their captain.

Nami casually strolls to the throne. It isn't long before Arlong throws a blue-skinned arm around her and drags her right into the middle of the mess. "My navigator! Finally decided to come back, eh?" the saw shark fishman slurs. Nami just laughs in agreement.

"Not for long, Arlong. My last raid was pretty successful. I'm going to buy back Cocoyashi today!" she says and hopes that it isn't enough for him to have an anger fit.

It isn't, luckily. He just chuckles and asks: "Is that so? Mah, well, then that's just how it is! Right, men?!" His men chorus back: "Aye, captain!"

She is being easily lured into the festivities and, thus, doesn't pay any attention to Arlong's temporary retreat. "Have to take a piss." he declares.

"Nezumi? ...yeah, the house with the orange trees. Don't disappoint me." Arlong says, a mean glint in his eyes as he hangs up on the marine.

...

In the meantime, Luffy and co arrive at a small but nice residence. One can spot gigantic orange trees forming four rows in the backyard. It's a good home for children, the captain decides and thinks back to Dadan's quite... rowdy hut. He would have liked to spend his childhood here.

Sanji seems to be of the same opinion as his lips carry a slight albeit melancholic smile.

Ever the gentleman, he offers to knock on the door. Three times sharp – it opens up just about fifteen seconds later to reveal an attractive young woman with blue hair and tan skin. She looks absolutely fierce; the tattoos on her arm and across her collarbones only add to her charm.

Instantly, as if Amour's arrow had hit the man, Sanji's heart flutters when he takes in the woman's beauty and intelligence showing in her eyes. Blood dribbles from his nose... well, Nami's sister has also quite nice curves.

"Who the hell are you and what do ya want?" she asks in a no-nonsense manner. Nojiko, so her name, doesn't like the blond's perverted look.

"I love you." he says and has promptly to deal with a door hitting his nose.

Zoro and Usopp shake their heads disappointedly and Luffy just digs in his nose. The captain of the Marines neither understands his cook's confession nor Nami's sister's reaction... maybe he's better off that way – otherwise he'd have to deal with the second-hand embarrassment which swordsman and sniper alike feel right now.

"Couldn't you just have... I don't know... treated her like a normal human being?" the green haired man grumbles, rubbing his nose bridge in aggravation.

Sanji sends him a dark glance and answers: "I don't want to hear anything at all from you, virgin moss!"

"Well, better being a virgin than an absolute creep!" Zoro retorts dangerously close to pulling out Wado Ichimonji.

" _What did you just say, mossbrain?!"_

Usopp watches in fascination as a dark aura of doom wafts from every pore of Sanji's body... has he missed something? Is the cook Satan? Does he have to fear for his life or soul if he continues travelling with Zoro who's akin to a demon and Sanji who, as he has established inside his head, is Satan?

"Uh, guys?" Luffy asks but Sanji and Zoro don't listen to him and Usopp has an internal crisis... again. It's the fifth since he's joined and he's only been on the ship for a week and a half.

"Guys?" the captain tries his luck once more. His efforts are futile and Sanji aims a kick at the swordsman who swiftly blocks it with Wado.

" **Guys."**

The three Marines simultaneously stop in their tracks and turn to their captain. Luffy stands with his hands on his hips next to an amused Nojiko. "While you had fun, I explained the situation to Nojiko. Can we finally go inside or do you want to wait here?" the straw hat wearer states and sighs when dumbfounded expressions meet him. Every time he shows just a tad bit of decency or common sense, _he_ is the one regarded as weird. Luffy doesn't pout, no, but he's pretty close.

They follow Luffy's suggestion and soon, the five of them including Nojiko sit down at the homey old wooden table in the clean citrus-smelling kitchen.

"So" the woman gestures at them, "You're Nami's friends?"

"Y-yeah. Uh, sorry Miss...?" Sanji stutters.

"Nojiko. Just Nojiko."

"Eh... Miss Nojiko, I'm deeply sorry for my previous behaviour. It's just that I've rarely ever seen a beauty such as you here in East Blue!" he declares, dramatically pulling a rose out of his suit jacket's pocket.

Usopp snorts and whispers to the swordsman next to him: "Doesn't he say that like every time he sees a fairly attractive girl?"  
"Yeah, when I was sober back at the Baratie I even counted how many times he's told somebody the same thing."

"And?" the long-nosed teen demands intrigued.

"Fourteen times. He had a rose for every single one of them, including one for that guy who asked if he could buy one for his boyfriend." Zoro replies, eyeing the suspiciously intact petals of the flower which is now in Nojiko's hands.

"Damn." the slingshot user says impressed.

Nojiko lays the flower down onto the table in front of her. "You're an odd bunch. As I've understood it, you're the captain?" she questions, pointing at Luffy.

Straw Hat nods. "Yeah, I'm Monkey D. Luffy. That's my first mate and lost samurai, Roronoa Zoro."

"I'm not _that_ bad at directions." Zoro intervenes with a frowning face.

Usopp sweat-drops. "Mate. You had to hold hands with Luffy or else you'd have wandered off."

"Well, the road was downright mean and anybody could have accidentally taken the wrong path." the swordsman defends himself and his honour. Today, he has already been outed as a virgin. He doesn't need a second round of mockery directed at him.

His long-nosed crewmate will have none of Zoro's miserably bad excuses. With a single sentence, he absolutely shatters the elder's pride: "The road was straight and there weren't any turnings – you were literally about to head off into a _forest_."

Zoro crosses his arms and sinks down into the cushion. He is silent after that.

"Shishishi!" Luffy chuckles at his friend's misery dutifully, as any friend should, and continues the introductions: "You've already met Sanji, our cook and... I don't know... what's the word? Ah, yeah, he's our ladyboy!"

"PFFFT." Usopp splutters.

"You confused gentleman with ladyboy." Sanji says calmly.

"Oh. OH! Sorry, hehe!" Luffy apologizes sheepishly to which the cook responds with: "It's alright, my student. A rookie mistake, really."

"WAIT! What the hell do you teach our captain?!"

"The basics." the swirly-eyebrowed man says.

Nojiko giggles lightly behind her hand.

"Oh, yeah. That's Usopp." Luffy finishes the introduction.

"Wow. Thanks for the nice attributes." Usopp mumbles sarcastically.

The blue haired woman files them in on Nami's and her current living situation and she also elaborates on why there's a heavily injured kid in her sister's bed. Of course, this brings the mood down a notch but afterwards, when everything that's left is to wait for Nami, she finds out how those pirates could so easily sneak their way into the usually unimpressed navigator's heart. Nojiko herself isn't the most trusting person, not after Bell-mère's death, but if she hadn't built up a stable living (apart from the ongoing fishmen invasion) she'd be lured into following them.

She bets they bring out the best in Nami – the fierceness and strength she hides behind coy smiles.

Rustling noises and a groan throw her off her musings. She swiftly makes her way to the bed in which the young boy lies. He's shuddering, a horrified look fixated on the missing arm.

"You're awake?" Nojiko asks with her hands on her hips.

He grits his teeth before barking out: "Where am I?! What happened to Arlong?"

"Arlong? Pah! What do you think happened to him? Nothing, of course. He's still drinking merrily with his crew. Good load the stunt you pulled has done..."

The boy clenches his teeth and resolves to silently staring at the single hand he still possesses. "And what are we gonna do about him? We have to do _something_!" he hisses after moments of silence.

"You dumb brat have done enough. There's no _we_ in this. Nami will buy the village and there's that." Nojiko replies with crossed arms and a stern look crossing her face.

"Buy the village?!" the kid, Chabo his name, cries in disbelief, "You wanna give that fish bastard money after all he's done? Are you crazy?!"

"I'll not take away everything Nami has fought for. For eight years, she's been fighting daily, refusing to be helped and collecting money for our island. I'm not saying it's a satisfying solution because it's fucking _not_! But if it's enough to drive Arlong away I won't be complaining. I just want him gone."

Chabo is quiet after this and resigns himself to simply staring at the wooden ceiling above. The Marine Pirates don't try to speak to him. They know that, for as long as Arlong still reigns over Conomi, the boy won't listen to anything anyone will tell him.

For twenty minutes, the only sound made comes from the ticking clock on the wall.

The peace doesn't last forever, though. It never does. Heavy footsteps march towards the house, not trying to be subtle at all. Luffy looks up from his position, sipping on a mug filled with Nojiko's homemade tangerine juice. When the door is forcefully kicked open and marines stumble into the room, he takes a large gulp. Sanji stiffens unnoticeably, blowing a wad of smoke out of the window, Zoro looks as if he's sleeping but the rest of the Marines know that he's wide awake from the way his fingers circle his single remaining sword and Usopp flinches only at the harsh sound. But even he doesn't find it in himself to be scared of those unwelcome guests – their boss looks ridiculously like a rat, after all. There isn't much one could describe as scary as even the guns are rusty and old as if this marine branch hadn't received new weaponry in nearly a decade... Luffy thinks of Nojiko's words. Arlong seems to have a tight grip on Conomi's law enforcement, not just on the villagers themselves.

"I'm marine Captain Nezumi, 16th branch of East Blue. It has come to my attention that there are supposed stolen goods hidden on this property!" the rodent-like man smugly declares.

Luffy can't help but grin slightly when he stands up and walks towards Nezumi. No drop of Conqueror's Haki comes into play, nonetheless the marine Captain and his crew subconsciously take a step back at the approaching figure.

"Ah, yo, fellow Captain!" the straw hat wearer greets, waving cheerfully, "I'm Marine captain Monkey D. Luffy, acting under the 88th branch. As per Marine Codex Paragraph 12, Article 2: _Stolen goods can be claimed as the marine's property if they cannot be traced back to their original owners._ I have claimed those goods and because Nami, one of my crewmembers, has found them on pirate ships, they automatically belong to us anyways." Luffy finishes and takes another swig of his juice.

Nezumi recoils. "T-The 88th?! Under which vice admiral are you?" he whimpers.

"Vice admiral Garp."

Those words work like magic – a repelling spell that lets the recipient feel the inexplicable need to flee and hide away as far as possible. Luffy wholeheartedly understands what must be going on in Nezumi's head at this moment. His gramps is a force to be reckoned with, sometimes men would much rather fight Sengoku than risk upsetting Garp the Fist... Luffy sure as hell doesn't want to be present when the whole Marine/marine thing finally blows up.

"G-G-Garp, you say?! Oh. Then we'll just... we'll head back to the base, Captain Monkey! Goodbye, farewell!" the marine stutters helplessly.

"Huh? You wanna go already? What about a little _talk_ – Marine captain to marine Captain?" Luffy asks, childishly pouting, "I mean there are so many questions I have for you! Like, for example, why's there a dangerous pirate crew on the island? Aren't you responsible for such cases? My crewmember Nami and her civilian sister Nojiko here are very trusty sources and both of them told me that Arlong of the former Sun Pirates terrorizes Conomi. And you know what else they told me?"

It's eerily silent now. The clock seems to have stopped working as nobody hears anything but their own hearts beating crassly against their ribcages. What is it that makes this young man, as innocent as he came across earlier, still everything in its wake? Air saturated with electricity calls out an upcoming storm. Nojiko knows it's bullshit – she has checked the weather and while she's no Nami she had time to pick up certain skills from her sibling.

Her eyes widen when she sees the dark red captain's coat flutter around Luffy's ankle ever so slightly.

"I... I had no idea? Arlong, you say? I didn't... if I did I would have... you have to believe me! Eek!" Captain Nezumi wheezes as a lazy flick made by Straw Hat's finger sends his marine hat flying.

Suddenly, the spell is broken in the exact moment when Luffy's fist connects with his palm. "Ah! You didn't have any idea about the fish face? Okay, welp, no wonder nothing's been done about him and his crew then!" He laughs and the blue haired woman frowns. Is he really believing that idiot?

Luffy energetically points at Nezumi, causing the man to stumble backwards into his shell-shocked underlings. "Luckily, you know about Arlong now. That means you can act, right? How about we wait for my crewmate and walk with her back to those pirates' base? You see, she thought you _knew_ about Arlong all along and didn't do anything. That's why she had to make a deal with him. Can you imagine? Having to make a deal with a pirate to free your homeland while marines don't serve justice and just sit on their big fat asses?" His grin turns sinister, "I'm glad _it's not like that_."

Nezumi shakes and any bravado which somehow survived up until this moment is, like his hat, swept away by Luffy's doings.

"O-Of course, Sir!" he says but his eyes betray him. They're brimming with fear.

"Good, nice! Hey, Nojiko, you have any more juice for those guys?" Luffy asks, meaning the marines, "Cause they don't look so well. Must be the weather or something."

Nojiko never would have guessed she'd end up sitting with Marines and marines alike at a much too small kitchen table, serving tangerine juice and waiting for her sister to turn up. But here she is. She should be angry about Nezumi and his lackeys' presence... but all she feels is giddiness for the upcoming battle. There'll be no peaceful departure between Conomi and the fishmen (should Arlong have actually agreed to the deal – which he wouldn't have as shown by the readiness to send government lapdogs).

She's oddly satisfied.

A young boy's mouth still hangs slack-jawed at what had occurred. He casts a look at the stump that is left of his arm and swallows down the urge to tear up.

...

Nami stretches as soon as she's out of Arlong Park. Goddamn, the bastard was _really_ happy to see her – so much so that she couldn't escape the never-ending party earlier. However, after three mugs of beer and a couple of shared stories, she'd been able to make a beeline straight out of this hellhole.

Her neck cracks. Oof, she'll have to ask Sanji for a massage after everything's done.

With her staff leisurely dancing between her deft fingers (trained by years of pick-pocketing), the orangette heads to her home. It's not a long walk until she stands in front of the withered door which she opens gently.

Then she blinks at the scene greeting her. Luffy, Usopp and three real marines play Uno with each other. Alright? "Eh, hi. Who are your new... friends, captain?" she sweetly inquires to override her growing need for another mug of alcohol. She really shouldn't be astonished at the ridiculousness of events when she's part of the most ridiculous crew around this side of the Earth but somehow, she still is to some degree.

"Nami!" she hears Nojiko's voice before toppling over as her sister's strong arms wrap around her waist. What is it with people making her nearly fall over today?

"Captain Nezumi said he really wants to help beat Arlong's crew. He didn't know they were even here! Isn't that weird, Nami? Those guys are so funny!" the Marine captain boasts loudly, cheerily patting a white-faced marine with rodent resemblance on the back. Nezumi tries to smile sheepishly but it comes out as fairly forced.

"Oh, they didn't know Arlong's here?" Nami asks, adorably smiling, "Well, that's odd for sure! It's a relief they do so now, isn't it? Why did they come in the first place?"

Usopp perks up, shrugging. "They came around to ask about the money."

"...coincidentally on the same day as you finally being able to pay the sum, Nami-swan!" the swirly-browed cook intervenes and blows, for good measure, a wad of tobacco smoke in the marines' directions.

"Also, really coincidentally, they came when you were conveniently gone." The Marine's first mate says in his rough voice, causing nearby marines to shy away. They hadn't even known that the swordsman is awake.

"Like I said!" Luffy nods, "They're really funny, those guys!"

"Oh, well... so, are we set to destroy Arlong Park?" Nami demands, her face split into what the Marines define as a _Zoro's-Ready-For-Slaughter_ smile – however, on the navigator's visage it's bone-chilling opposed to just goose bump-raising. She's _pissed_ and who wouldn't be in her situation? Of course, levelling the fishmen's base will be much more satisfying than giving them the ransom but she has worked her fucking ass off daily to get to a hundred million beri. Naturally, she's livid that her efforts will be ultimately in vain.

That's not to say that she won't enjoy whacking some sense into their thick fish skulls.

"Yosh, I think we're ready. What about you and your crew, Captain?" Luffy pats the marine's shoulder as if they're the best of friends. Nezumi's eyes are teary and he can't even bring himself to answer verbally. He just nods, resigned to his fate, and motions his men (who're looking equally unwell) to follow the Marine Pirates' captain.

Nojiko flashes her sister thumbs up. She has absolute faith in Nami and her friends. "Rob 'em blank, sis!" she calls out, laughing when the good old beri-eyed expression makes an appearance on the orangette's face.

Soon, Chabo and Nojiko are the only ones in the small house. Countless mugs sit on the table and on the floor and the inked woman lets out a soft groan. Where the hell is Genzo when you need him? Honestly, now she has to clean up all of this bullshit without any help!

"D'ya really think they can beat Arlong?"

Nojiko doesn't still in her steps as she picks up a half full cup. "Brat" she says loud enough for him to hear, "That's my sister and her actual friends we're talking about! I'd be surprised if a single piece of Arlong Park is standing after today."

Chabo may not answer but Nojiko's instinct tells her he can't quite believe her words yet. Well, he'll just have to wait and see then.

...

The Marines and marines are now directly in front of the iron gates of Arlong's base. "Do we... do we ring the bell?" a white-clad cadet asks uncertainly, eyeing the button distrustfully.

POW

"Ah, okay, understandable, have a nice day." he answers himself when Luffy flicks the gate out of its hinges.

"What the hell? Who are you?!" Kensuke cries and when he spots Nami amongst the crowd, he yet again makes the crude gesture – pressing invisible boobs together and all that.

"Seriously?!" she growls, "You're _still_ doing that even when I come with a whole cavalry?!"

"Yeah, Nami-swan's right! What is wrong with you, vulgar fish face?!" Sanji asks, casting a dark face at the display.

Usopp turns to Zoro who rubs his nose bridge in aggravation. The sniper looks at him sympathetically. "The irony's painful." the swordsman states and sighs when the love-cook produces yet another rose out of practically nowhere, dancing around their navigator as a crumpled fishman lies on the ground next to him.

Luffy meanwhile blinks at the huge building. Huh. Why would anyone trade a ship for... this?

"Hey, guys, you get the others. I'm gonna grab that Arshlong-Boss-Man!" he tells them and doesn't wait for an answer as he wanders into the fishmen's territory. His boots clack on the unbelievingly polished tiles but he also perceives music filtering through the large door at the end of the corridor. Luffy doesn't hesitate. He marches into the room, watching over the scene. He's strangely reminded of that weird clown guy and his crew as he observes men swaying back and forth. Well, at least no crewmembers are killed by their captain... that's a plus point, right?

"AH!" a startled yelp tones from a saw shark fishman when he spots Luffy at the entrance arch. The Marine captain tilts his head. Isn't that already the one he's looking for? Great! He didn't even have to search that long. Happily, he goes up to the pirates' boss and casually hauls him out of the window. He feels his nakama sweat-dropping behind him (why do they always do that?) and he uses his gum gum fruit to follow Arlong.

Nami snorts under her breath. "Typical." she says and gets three nods and dozens of disbelieving stares as reactions. When she turns her head, she's faced with Hatchan's face. For a moment, she doesn't know what to do but then she gives him the choice: "Either you go now and will be spared or you stay and Zoro's going to handle you. You're the only one I've ever liked, you know?"

Hatchan's eyes soften. He sighs heavily. "Well, you know how loyal I am, Nami. I've dug this grave myself – if I lose, I lose. If I win, I win. Just know that I don't hold this against you. I've seen it coming ever since you started robbing other pirates."

"I... understand." the woman croaks, bitterness on her tongue.

"So you're a swordsman or what?" Zoro chimes in, prepping Wado Ichimonji for an upcoming battle. The octopus makes an agreeing noise and unsheathes his own swords – all six of them. "Roronoa Zoro, I've heard a lot about you! Let's do this." are his words as he goes into an opening stance.

"Sure, takoyaki." the first mate playfully answers, devilish smirk on display.

In the meantime, Sanji, Nami and Usopp each find themselves a respective enemy and the marines hesitantly support them with all their measly might.

...

Luffy crosses his arms, staring at Arlong expectantly. The backyard in which they landed has a great pool a bit farther away from where they both stand, staring one another down with equal determination.

"Who the hell are you? You dare coming here, clad like old Gold Roger, and invade my headquarters... yet I don't have a fucking clue who you are." the saw shark fishman proclaims with his previous drunkenness gone.

"Me? I'm Monkey D. Luffy, Marine captain."

"A marine Captain? _You_?! You look as if you'd fall over if wind blew too hard. Shahahaha!" Arlong laughs at his own shitty joke and Luffy joins in with a happy "Shishishi!", not caring how he's being dragged through the mud.

Arlong's laughter gradually decreases until he's completely silent. Suddenly, his eyes hyper-focus on Luffy. "Monkey D. Luffy, huh? Now I have a name to work with. I don't know why you are here, though. Enlighten me."

"Sure. I'm here because you sent rat face and his men to Nami's house." Luffy loftily says.

"Nami, huh? Should have known she'd try another coup but after the last ones went so shitty I'd anticipated she'd at least send someone who'll last more than two seconds. Shahahaha!"

Once again, Arlong's bellowing cackles aren't the only ones in the garden. The Marine captain's signature "Shishishi" follows after them, letting the fishman still in his tracks. Why is that shrimp laughing? Is he suicidal or just a jackass who thinks he actually has a chance? If it's the latter, the blue-skinned man will have to show him how genetic superiority works... Arlong's mouth corners draw up enough for dangerously sharp teeth to glint in the sunlight.

Look at that dumb _human_! – the fishman thinks ecstatically – The boy's eyes are closed, for god's sake! Why the hell did Nami believe someone who'd make such a rookie mistake when facing an opponent would win against _him_?! He's reigned over Conomi Island for nearly a decade and before that, he's sailed with legends like Fisher Tiger. Arlong is unstoppable and his crew? His crew is just as notorious as he is!

Akin to a torpedo, Arlong all of a sudden dashes forward, movement too fast to track with East Bluean eyes. His maw opens, wide and menacing as it thirsts for fresh blood... and blood it will get, along with flesh and sinew. This boy, not yet a fully grown man, will be torn apart in a horrible way – but in a way someone as him, who dares to emit such a high and mighty attitude when standing right in front of one of the most cruel pirates on the world, deserves!

Saw shark teeth click shut. Naturally, he waits for his senses to be clouded by copper in his mouth and sweet screams in his ears.

But neither the former nor the latter is the case.

Instead, Arlong's teeth painfully click shut on air and what he hears has him stunned.

"Oof, and there I thought you actually weren't really all that bad. Only an act so far, huh?" the boy muses, body completely intact. Arlong whips around to stare at the infiltrator – the _unharmed_ and sheepishly blinking infiltrator.

"How-?!"

Hissing, Arlong suppresses his astonishment from leaking out. That stupid Straw Hat won't get the satisfaction of seeing him splutter. Most likely, it was just a fluke anyways. Or the alcohol. It's the liqueur, the fishman decides.

There's no way a human could actually be faster – or better in any regard, really – than him!

Without deigning the red-coated menace a verbal affirmation, the fishman storms into his direction again, even faster than before in case the boy really somehow managed to dodge his first attack.

Victory is near, Arlong knows –

\- but his knowledge is false. His eyes follow Luffy's movements and, to his utter bewilderment, just as his maw is about to tear into the brat, Straw Hat inches slightly away. Just enough for Arlong to fly past him and land crashing nose-first into the building.

"That cat guy had a lot more speed on him than you! Were you really a Sun Pirate? Cuz you sure don't seem like it."

Arlong pries himself out of cement and venomously spits: "What would a disgusting human know about the Sun Pirates, huh?!"

Luffy's smile crumbles instantly, dissolving to reveal serious eyes. "I don't know much, really. But my gramps told me about Fisher Tiger. That's why I can see how far you're away from your captain's ideas."

The fishman doesn't want to listen to the Marine. He jumps right into action again. Again and again, he fails to slit the boy open. Even the fishman karate moves he just throws out in desperation are dodged easily. Way too easy.

"You sat in East Blue for the last ten years. What did'ya expect? To become better here than you were on the Grandline?" the straw hat wearer asks, clutching his headwear with one hand while thrusting his upper body backwards to avoid being decapitated.

"Shut the fuck up, you little bitch!" Arlong roars, blindly stabbing with his sharp, haki-blackened nose. He doesn't land a single hit.

Luffy grabs the man's arm, twists it harshly until the saw shark fishman's stomach hits the tiled ground, and then he lets himself sit on Arlong's back. The older pirate captain immediately starts kicking, clawing, simply everything to free himself from the mortifying position underneath that brat's ass – to no avail. He remembers people in white with odd hair and bubble glass shielding their heads. "Have you fun looking down on me?!" he barks out with a hateful sneer.

"Hm?"

"I said HAVE YOU GODDAMN FUN LOOKING DOWN ON ME, YOU FUCKING HUMAN?! It's always the same with you – everyone of you! Always looking down on us fishmen like we're inferior. We aren't!" Arlong yells, blood rushing to his head and colouring it a violent violet.

The Marine captain hums and muses with a distorted face (the thinking-face he hasn't adorned in a while): "I know. You aren't infe-infra-infest-roar. But you aren't super-roar either! You're cool... well, not _you_. But fishmen – they're pretty awesome."

A bitter snort accompanies Arlong's answer. "As if a human like you could feel companionship when you're faced with fishmen. I've seen people like you often – talking like they know jack shit and when they see a real fishman, you know what people like you do? They scream and run away."

"...you're a fake fishman?"

"NO, YOU BRAT!"

Luffy flicks Arlong's forehead. "I don't care what you look like. As long as you don't hurt my nakama or kill innocent villagers, you're fine in my eyes."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, dumb human."

The Marine captain jumps from his opponent's back, frowning as he crosses his arms. "So... you think humans are weaker than fishmen?"

Arlong heaves himself up from the floor, brushes off dust and glares at the boy viciously. He snarls: "Of course they are! Us fishmen are ten times stronger than your weak-ass race."

"Huh? Then why didn't you beat me already?"

"That's because I wasn't sober yet!" the man exclaims, "But I am now. You versus me – I'm not holding back anymore, Straw Hat!"

"Shishishi, good! Come on!"

Luffy prepares himself for the second round of onslaughts. He isn't disappointed because not even three seconds later, Arlong springs into action. _Shark on darts_ after _shark on darts_ after _shark on darts_ ; while the repertoire of attacks is very limited, the fishman's growing enthusiastic. Akin to a shark that rushes towards blood in the water, the pirate flings himself towards Luffy in a breakneck speed which has at least tripled from the initial rather lame velocity.

Rubbery mouth stretching into an incredibly large smile, Luffy decides to strike back. After all, what's the fun in not reciprocating the sentiment? What did that guy say? Ten times stronger than a normal man? Very well – that's what he's going to get!

In the exact moment in which Arlong's nose is just about to touch his chest, Luffy's black-as-the-night fist burrows itself in the other's smelling organ. It crunches sickeningly but the straw-hatted pirate knows with a quick check that the fishman is still alive... barely, though.

...seriously?!

"Shit, really? Again?! Why does this always happen to me? I thought you were stronger!" the Marine asks indignantly as he walks to Arlong's crumpled body. Oh, holy... That doesn't look too good. And he's unconscious. A wave of dread and panic floods Luffy's brain.

"NAMI? WHAT DO I DO IF SOMEBODY'S NOSE IS IN THEIR EYE?"

The orangette navigator, frazzled, sweaty and harshly breathing, peeps out of the window in confusion. She demands: "What did you –" but then she halts due to the disgusting sight on the terrace, "What the hell?! Ew! Alright, just... MARINE GUY, CALL A FUCKING DOCTOR... NO, NOT FOR LUFFY. ARLONG'S, LIKE, ALL BLOODY AND SHIT."

Luffy calls cautiously: "I'M SORRY, NAMI! I DIDN'T MEAN TO OVERDO IT!" when his crewmate's pretty face vanishes inside the house again. He kneels next to the mess that is Arlong when, suddenly, a rattling breathing sound lets his attention snap to the fishman under him.

"W-Why... don't you... end it?" Arlong rasps out. Cough. Blood splatters. Another cough. Luffy grimaces, fiddling with the hem of his coat.

"I don't wanna kill people. That's not the way I do things." the teenager replies.

Arlong snorts, letting even more red liquid squirt out of the cave. He whispers: "Not the way... you do things... huh. What a... what a naive idiot you... you are." His eyes roll up and his head lolls back, indicating that he's fallen unconscious again. Luffy bites his lip, frowning at his enemy's parting words.

The battle of Arlong Park is a short one. For all those years the fishman has terrorized Conomi Island, the end result is bittersweet when Arlong's out cold but still breathing body is carried to a marine ship after having been treated by the local doctor.

...

"It's over..."

"Yes."

"My captain trains us, did you know that? He trains me too." Nami speaks in a low voice, gaze far off, directed at the sunset. Currently, Genzo's conversing with Luffy in her childhood home – something about treating her right, basically giving the Marine captain the so-called shovel talk. In her opinion, this is absolutely unnecessary... but tell that a man who's pretty much been her father all of her life. Needless to say, Genzo still went ahead and dragged Luffy by his ear off to the depths of their cellar.

Nami has never seen her captain look so terrified.

Nojiko hums in appreciation at her sister's claim. "It's good you do! You can't survive on sneak attacks alone if you travel with those mad lads."

"I..." the orangette pauses, inhales before she continues: "I kind of regret it – I mean, not training before. Can you guess how many _fishmen_ I've fought against at Arlong Park? Four. And I won every single time. It's been less than two weeks and I'm already at least twice as strong as I was without training. I even... I even sometimes see attacks _before they even happen_. Those are just glances and far in between but nevertheless... Nojiko"

The woman grits her teeth. Her sister's mouth opens slightly when she spots tears running down Nami's face, making it blotchy and red. "Was I... was I really so _weak_ before?!"

Her fingers dig harshly into her Arlong crew tattoo.

"Did I make everyone suffer so long for _nothing_?! He wouldn't have given up our island... that asshole, that absolute bastard. He even sent fucking marines to our _home_! If I had... if I had trained harder, become stronger on my own..." she breaks off, a pathetic whine forcing itself out of her throat.

"No! You did nothing wrong. If anything – we did." Nojiko intercepts, drawing her sister closer to her. "We – the villagers, Genzo and I – we saw what you were doing. We saw how hard you struggled to hold everything together. We didn't do anything! We could have trained too! We could have supported you more... we could have done so much more than we did. I'm... I'm so sorry, Nami."

Blue and orange hair whirls in the wind and for a long time, both women just hold each other and heal.

Luffy, in the meantime, quietly retreats into Nami's house again with a small smile gracing his lips, so unlike his usually booming laughter and D-shaped grins. There are celebrations, mostly held by villagers, marines and the other Marines (with Usopp crying tales into the heated crowd, Zoro drinking his head off and Sanji loitering around the ladies and catering to every need for food there is), but although the food seems appetizing (especially the raw ham melon... god, he'll definitely have a couple of those later), the pirate captain doesn't quite want to join the festivities yet.

For one, he had to check on his navigator. She'll be alright – Nami is nakama, after all, and every single one of his nakama is really tough. However, that doesn't mean he isn't there to lend a shoulder if the woman needs it. From the looks of it, she's taken care of for now.

Good.

That's good... "I-I promise I didn't do anything, Genzo-san!" Luffy nervously declares, holding his arms up to placate the windmill-wearing man who glares daggers at him.

"Are you sure, Luffy- _san_? I thought I saw you snooping on my girls." He squints. Luffy begins to sweat. Why has Sanji explained things like _shovel talk_ and _protective father figures_ to him?! Why couldn't his innocence have been prev-prevu-priwailed?!

"N-No! I just checked to see if everything's right!" His arms are flailing wildly. How does someone calm down middle-aged men? Gramps has only taught him about calming down friends and "the ladies"(even though he still doesn't quite understand the difference because Nami is a friend _and_ a lady).

Apparently, though, flailing wildly with his arms is the right thing to do as Genzo just heavily sighs and scratches his cheek. "I guess I'm going a bit overboard with my protectiveness. Just... make her happy."

"I – I don't know what you-!" But Genzo is already gone, submerged in the sea of other party guests's bodies. Luffy groans. He still has stuff to do before he can finally grab his raw ham melons. This conversation he's about to have better be over soon.

His boot-clad feet carry him to the room where Chabo lies in bed, catatonically staring at the ceiling and not at all inclined on participating in the party for Arlong and his crew's defeat.

"So, what's with you?" Luffy asks, grabbing a stool and sitting down on it right next to the boy.

"Why do you care? You won against Arlong. I didn't. Go out and be happy about it." Chabo answers monotonically.

"Didn't you want him gone, too? Why aren't _you_ out there and happy about it?"

"Because I CAN'T!" the boy yells, shooting up from his lying position, "I CAN'T be happy about it! I crippled myself! I can't follow my dreams anymore. Yeah, nice knowing that at least Arlong's not gonna fucking chase and kill me or some shit like that... But I can't do what I always wanted to do now!"

Luffy flicks the boy's forehead. "Don't be stupid." he says.

"Wha-?! What the hell?!" Chabo rubs the place where the other's finger connected, "What would _you_ know about living without an arm?"

The Marine captain points to his hat. "This hat" he tells the boy, "belonged to one of the most powerful pirates who travels the Grandline – Yonko Shanks. He gave it to me nine years ago and you know what else he gave up for me? His arm." The boy's eyes widen, gazing at the straw hat in awe. "Yeah, and Shanks only became Yonko _after_ he saved me from a sea king and lost his arm. So, what's your problem? What even is your dream?"

"I want to become the best bounty hunter there is!" Chabo says, cheeks tinted pink.

Luffy laughs. "Shishishi! That's great! Now I have a future admiral _and_ the future best bounty hunter on my head!"

"Huh?!"

"We'll have to fight someday, you know? I'm going to be the Pirate King!" Luffy tells Chabo.

Chabo gapes at the elder. Then, determination clouds his face. The boy swears: "I'm gonna hunt and catch you when I'm strong enough, just wait!" which makes Luffy laugh even harder. Yes, indeed, the conversation was worth postponing getting the raw ham melons.

Unbeknownst to Luffy, a marine who'd been searching for a toilet halts in his steps when he hears the pirate's declaration. He gasps. This marine wants to be Pirate King?! He'll have to report possible mutiny to the headquarters! But... maybe... he looks at the happy people and the ongoing festivity, maybe not _now_.

...

On the next day, after a round of goodbyes and 'thank you's, the Marine Pirates once again find themselves on the deck of their beloved ship. Nami breathes in the fresh sea breeze and carefully touches the plastic wrap on her new tattoo.

It's a sunny day and seagulls fly above when they set sail.

Life is going well – Zoro's napping, leaning against the railing. Luffy's sitting with a broad grin on the figure head of their beautiful Going Merry. Usopp tinkers with a couple of small metal parts he's found somewhere stored in Arlong Park before they burnt it down (as a ceremony to put things to an end) and Sanji's cooking something delicious for lunch.

And Johnny and Yosaku...

Johnny and Yosaku...

Oh, fuck.

Zoro's eyes open and he frantically searches for a trace of those chuckleheads. They aren't here. "Eh, guys? Did someone remember to collect Johnny and Yosaku?"

"..."

"..."

"...shit." Nami curses. The Marine pirates, at this point, have been sailing for three hours.

Of course, they had to sail the whole goddamn way back to Conomi for the two bounty hunters. Turns out, Johnny and Yosaku had found their way to Nami's house... a day and a half later than when they'd been expected.

* * *

A/N: Mister "I upload huge ass chapters" isn't dead! Celebration!  
What a struggle!

Well, I have a tumblr now. **mindfogerased** is its name!

As always, have fun, kids.


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